Expanding the geographic reach of one of its areas of expertise – the design of student life facilities – Lord, Aeck & Sargent (LAS) announced that four colleges and universities recently have awarded the architecture firm significant such projects.
At Millersville University, LAS is partnering with private developer Ambling University Development Group and Student Services Inc., a non-profit corporation that enhances the campus and is managed by the university, to replace more than 2,000 beds over five years at a cost of $180 million. At Texas Southern University (Houston), HarrisonKornberg Architects in collaboration with LAS will design a $41.5 million urban student housing project. At Western Michigan University, (Kalamazoo), LAS was just selected to design a housing complex. And LAS is designing its third student housing project for Young Harris College (Young Harris, Ga.), this one a $9.5 million facility targeted toward first-year students. Joe Greco, LAS president and design principal for the four projects, said all of them will have significant living/learning component.
The Millersville housing, which will be designed in phases, will replace six aging dormitories over the next five years, transforming the South Quad of the campus into an academic village. The first phase, designed primarily for freshmen, will be a mostly four-story, 185,000-sf project with more than 700 beds in a mix of single- and double-occupancy suites and semi-suites, at a projected development cost of $35 million. The project design consists of two V-shape residential wings connected by a signature living/learning center that will anchor the end of a historic campus lawn. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2013 and is planned to be completed by August 2014. Benchmark Construction of Brownstown, Pa., is the construction manager.
The new Texas Southern University (TSU) facility, unlike Millersville, will be located in an urban setting on university-owned land adjacent to the existing main campus. Actively addressing the street, the building is expected to have at least one ground-level retail component. Currently estimated to be 215,000 square feet, the facility will house 800 beds and large and small group social and study spaces on six to seven floors. Construction on the TSU project is scheduled to begin in May 2013, with completion anticipated in July 2014.
At Western Michigan (WMU), the 750- to 1,000-bed housing complex involves the sustainable redevelopment of a central precinct on WMU’s campus, including the demolition of two 1960s-era dormitories and redevelopment of the quad with new, state-of-the-art residence halls. The complex will consist of the individual units, support spaces, an academic area, and other amenities. Construction is slated to begin in late 2013 with occupancy scheduled for the fall of 2015.
The new student housing at Young Harris College (YHC) is the third such project designed by LAS for the college in the last four years as part of its transformation from a two-year college to a comprehensive four-year institution. While LAS’ previous projects, Enotah Hall and The Village, were designed with sophomores and upperclassmen in mind, the new facility will be designed primarily for first-year students.
The 57,500-sf facility will house more than 230 beds organized in “pods.” Each “pod” will contain 11-12 double-occupancy rooms, one single room for a resident assistant, two common bathrooms and a common living area. Pods will be organized in three adjoining pavilions. Two of the structures will be four stories and one, three stories. The central pavilion will house common areas for all residents on the ground floor. Targeting LEED certification, construction began in October with the building scheduled to open in time for the fall 2013 semester. Hardin Construction Co. is construction manager for the project, and Brailsford & Dunlavey is the program manager. +
Related Stories
| Oct 6, 2014
Design activity at architecture firms finally back to pre-recession levels: AIA report
Gross billings at architecture firms have increased by 20% since 2011, according to a new report by the AIA.
| Oct 6, 2014
Retelling an old story: Why women are underrepresented in architecture
Women account for more than half of the U.S. population. But even with significant gains over the past 25 years, their numbers and positions among the ranks of practicing architects appear to have stalled.
| Oct 3, 2014
New survey tracks Americans’ attitudes towards transit use
A record 10.7 billion rides were taken on public transit in the United States last year. And a national survey of Americans finds that the speed, reliability, and cost, more than any other factors, determine people’s willingness and frequency of use.
| Oct 2, 2014
Effective use of building enclosure mock-ups within the commissioning process
Engineers from SSR offer advice and guidelines on implementing building enclosure mockups on any project.
| Oct 2, 2014
Budget busters: Report details 24 of the world's most obscenely over-budget construction projects
Montreal's Olympic Stadium and the Sydney Opera House are among the landmark projects to bust their budgets, according to a new interactive graph by Podio.
| Oct 1, 2014
Long-time competitors NAC|Architecture and Osborn merge
The combined firm has offices in California, Colorado, and Washington, and offers a wide range of services, from landscape architecture and graphic design to architecture and interior design.
| Oct 1, 2014
Philip Johnson's iconic Crystal Cathedral to be modernized, made 'intrinsically Catholic'
Johnson Fain and Rios Clementi Hale Studios have been commissioned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange to upgrade the all-glass church in Garden Grove, Calif. The church acquired the property in 2012.
| Oct 1, 2014
4 trends shaping the future of data centers
As a designer of mission critical facilities, I’ve learned that it’s really difficult to build data centers to keep pace with technology, yet that’s a reality we face along with our clients, writes Gensler's Jackson Metcalf.
| Oct 1, 2014
EYP, WHR Architects merge, strengthening presence in education, healthcare, energy sectors
The merger unites 530 professionals to better address some of the most critical issues facing our nation, namely education, healthcare, and energy.
| Sep 30, 2014
The Big Room concept: Using Building Team collocation to ensure project success
Implementing collocation via the Big Room concept will remove silos, ensure a cadence for daily communication, promote collaboration, and elevate your chances for success, write CBRE Healthcare's Stephen Powell and Magnus Nilsson.
