The national general contractor Suffolk has had a longstanding relationship with the University of Massachusetts. Over the years it has built nine residential facilities on that institution’s 9,000-student campus at North Dartmouth, Mass., between Providence and Cape Cod, including the 800-bed Pine Dale and Oak Glen halls, and the 1,200-bed Woodland apartment complex.
Last month, the partners broke ground on a $134 million housing and dining complex on Parking Lot 7 near the university’s Campus Center and College of Visual and Performing Arts.
The project, when completed in the fall of 2020, will replace four residence halls that opened in 1976. It includes a 1,210-bed, 267,000-sf housing complex in two buildings, with an estimated cost of $108 million. These facilities will have classrooms, multimedia and study lounges, demonstration kitchens, and recreational spaces. A technology equipped maker space will enable students to work in groups. The buildings will also have soundproof music practice rooms and two computer learning commons.
The housing builldings will flank a $26 million, 38,000-sf student dining commons with an 800-person capacity, which replaces the university’s main dining hall built in 1977. Its design includes a large flat top grill where students can see their meals being prepared.
“Our team has worked in collaboration with the University from the beginning and we are excited to deliver a facility that will meet the unique needs of their students and faculty for decades to come,” says Randy Kreie, Principal and President of DiMella Shaffer, the construction’s design architect.
The residence halls are being built through a private-public partnership between the university and Greystar, which specializes in housing development and management. No state taxpayer funds will be used, and the project won’t add to the university’s debt. (The project is being financed through the UMass Building Authority.)
This is the first major state-funded building project on this campus since 1980, and represents the first phase of Chancellor Robert E. Johnson’s plan to focus capital investment on the 710-acre UMass Dartmouth main campus. (As part of the current project’s overall scope, the campus’s Science and Engineering Building is undergoing a $54 million renovation that is partly financed by $25 million in state funds.) Future initiatives will include renovation and modernization of academic buildings, the campus center, road infrastructure, and athletic facilities.
“We know from studies and our own extensive experience that providing high-quality living-learning environments for students increases graduation rates, retention rates and academic performance,” says UMass President Marty Meehan. “This project represents an investment in student success and student opportunity at UMass Dartmouth, which by extension will benefit the SouthCoast and the entire Commonwealth.”
Related Stories
| Jul 23, 2014
Architecture Billings Index up nearly a point in June
AIA reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a mark of 52.6 in May.
| Jul 21, 2014
Economists ponder uneven recovery, weigh benefits of big infrastructure [2014 Giants 300 Report]
According to expert forecasters, multifamily projects, the Panama Canal expansion, and the petroleum industry’s “shale gale” could be saving graces for commercial AEC firms seeking growth opportunities in an economy that’s provided its share of recent disappointments.
| Jul 18, 2014
Contractors warm up to new technologies, invent new management schemes [2014 Giants 300 Report]
“UAV.” “LATISTA.” “CMST.” If BD+C Giants 300 contractors have anything to say about it, these new terms may someday be as well known as “BIM” or “LEED.” Here’s a sampling of what Giant GCs and CMs are doing by way of technological and managerial innovation.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Construction Management Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, Barton Malow, Hill International top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest construction management and project management firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Contractors [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Turner, Whiting-Turner, Skanska top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest contractors in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Engineering firms look to bolster growth through new services, technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following solid revenue growth in 2013, the majority of U.S.-based engineering and engineering/architecture firms expect more of the same this year, according to BD+C’s 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Engineering/Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, AECOM, Parsons Brinckerhoff top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering/architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Fluor, Arup, Day & Zimmermann top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Gensler, Perkins+Will, NBBJ top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
2014 Giants 300 Report
Building Design+Construction magazine's annual ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S.
