Design students have had to watch their heads in the Armory studios.

On Feb. 22, a chunk of the ceiling came loose and landed on a student’s desk, barely missing him, said Jennifer Wilson, sophomore in architecture.

The material that fell was lightweight; concerned students can choose to work elsewhere without penalty, but the Armory still remains busy.

Wednesday, there was still police tape at the entrance to the studio, but it has been pulled aside. A sign still hung from the tape that read: “DANGER ABOVE . You are encouraged to stay out! You are not expected to produce work for tomorrow. We will find out what is going on tomorrow. It is your liability.”

Bob Currie, assistant director of Facilities Planning and Management, said an inspector has been called to examine the ceiling. Currently, the inspector’s verdict is out and any future course of action is purely speculation. Currie maintains there is little risk to students.

“Structurally, we’re not looking at sections of roof falling down,” he said.

The Armory was reroofed in the mid-1990s to keep water damage out of the building, Currie said. Workers replaced the roof tile and fasteners were driven through the layer of gypsum in the ceiling. When the fasteners went through, they loosened pieces of gypsum. The chunk that fell recently came down after years of hanging.

“There is no indication the roof is in disrepair. University personnel have looked at it, and if they saw any risk the students would have been evacuated,” Currie said.

Mark Engelbrecht, dean of the College of Design, assures students the Armory is a safe working environment. Engelbrecht said material fell from the ceiling when the reroofing was completed. Tarps were put up to catch the pieces, but taken down when they stopped falling.

“We thought we were through with this, but this is the first report since the construction ended,” Engelbrecht said.

“We’re working to have tarps or netting put back up to catch anything else that may come down. It will be done, it’s a question of how fast we get them up.”

This isn’t the first time a part of the ceiling has come loose. Currie inspected the Armory and found more places where pieces of the ceiling had dropped.

“There is evidence that material has fallen before. Upon further investigation, other pieces had fallen, just in areas unused by students,” Currie said.

The other pieces were also made of the same lightweight gypsum roof base.

Students have known about the ceiling for a while now, said Neil Maass, junior in architecture.

“Nobody’s reported it before, but everybody knows about it,” he said. “They did have engineers inspect it.”

Wilson said she wasn’t concerned about her safety, but that chunks coming loose were heard of before.

“I personally haven’t heard of it, but older students said it happened in years past,” she said.

Engelbrecht said students who decide to work elsewhere will suffer no penalties and that he doesn’t blame them.

“We encourage students to do what makes them feel comfortable. There aren’t many places to move to,” he said.

Another student, Man Lam, sophomore in architecture, wasn’t comfortable in the Armory but wasn’t planning on moving.

“Where else are we going to work?” Lam said.

Engelbrecht said the Armory studio spaces were originally a temporary measure to accommodate an overflow of students. He said some students enjoy the openness of the Armory studios, while others hate them, but that the space is necessary.

“We can’t shut the place down, there’s nowhere to put 300 students,” Engelbrecht said. “We don’t have a lot of flexibility with that many students in the space.”

He urged instructors to be flexible with their students.