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
| May 16, 2011
USGBC and AIA unveil report for greening K-12 schools
The U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects unveiled "Local Leaders in Sustainability: A Special Report from Sundance," which outlines a five-point national action plan that mayors and local leaders can use as a framework to develop and implement green schools initiatives.
| May 16, 2011
Dassault Systèmes to distribute Gehry Technologies’ digital project
Dassault Systèmes and Gehry Technologies announced that Gehry Technologies’ Digital Project products will be integrated into the Dassault Systèmes’ portfolio and distributed through Dassault Systèmes. Digital Project is a suite of 3D BIM applications created by Gehry Technologies using Dassault Systèmes’ CATIA as a core modeling engine.
| May 11, 2011
DOE releases guide for 50% more energy-efficient office buildings
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the release of the first in a new series of Advanced Energy Design Guides to aid in the design of highly energy efficient office buildings. The 50% AEDG series will provide a practical approach to commercial buildings designed to achieve 50% energy savings compared to the commercial building energy code used in many areas of the country.
| May 10, 2011
Google hires Ingenhoven Architects to design new Mountain View office
The current Googleplex is straining at the seams and yet the company is preparing its biggest hiring surge ever, so Google decided now’s the time to build its own office space—a first for the Internet giant. The company hired Ingenhoven Architects, a German firm that specializes in sustainable architecture, to create plans for what could be a 600,000-sf office.
| May 10, 2011
Solar installations on multifamily rooftops aid social change
The Los Angeles Business Council's study on the feasibility of installing solar panels on the city’s multifamily buildings shows there's tremendous rooftop capacity, and that a significant portion of that rooftop capacity comes from buildings in economically depressed neighborhoods. Solar installations could therefore be used to create jobs, lower utility costs, and improve conditions for residents in these neighborhood.
| May 10, 2011
Dinner is now served…atop the Lincoln Memorial?
Take a look at the temporary restaurant sitting atop Brussels’ historic Arc de Triomphe-Triomfboog. The Cube, by Electrolux, offers 18 diners a spectacular view of the Parc du Cinquantenair, and is one of two structures traveling across Europe, making stops at famous landmarks in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, and Russia. What do you think about one of these 60-tonne structures being placed on a U.S. memorial?
| May 6, 2011
Ellerbe Becket now operating as AECOM
*/ The architecture, interiors and engineering firm Ellerbe Becket, which joined AECOM in 2009, has fully transitioned to operating as AECOM as of May 2, 2011.
| May 2, 2011
URS acquires Apptis Holdings, a federal IT service provider
SAN FRANCISCO, CA and CHANTILLY, VA– April 28, 2011 – URS Corporation and Apptis Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of information technology and communications services to the federal government, announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which URS will acquire Apptis.
| May 2, 2011
Perkins+Will merges with Vermeulen Hind Architects, offically launches Perkins+Will Canada
Ottawa and Hamilton-based Vermeulen Hind Architects, one of Canada’s leading healthcare architectural firms, has merged with Perkins+Will. Vermeulen Hind joins Toronto-based Shore Tilbe Perkins+Will and Vancouver-based Busby Perkins+Will to create Perkins+Will Canada. The combination marks the official launch of Perkins+Will Canada, a merge that will establish the firm as among the pre-eminent interdisciplinary design practices in Canada.
