KWK Architects and ADG Architects recently completed work on Headington and Dunham residential colleges at the University of Oklahoma. The $75 million residential colleges are the first on the Norman, Okla., campus.
Headington and Dunham are designed as living/learning spaces to provide students with a sense of community and identity within the larger university. Before construction began, students were surveyed to determine optimal rental prices, unit sizes, room configurations, and desired amenities.
Each building features a faculty master apartment and office, dormitories, private parking, seminar/conference rooms, lounges, study areas, libraries, and dining rooms.
“The residential floors must offer a wide variety of room types that are enticing for freshman as well as upperclassmen to increase retention and engagement with the residential college," says Paul Wuennenberg, AIA, LEED APA, Principal, KWK Architects, in a release.
The buildings are connected by a communal dining area and storm shelter. Each residential college has its own motto, colors, crest, and athletic teams. The Cherokee Gothic style, featured on several other buildings across the campus, influenced the architectural design.
The university's most recent semester opened with 600 upperclassmen, 300 in each building. A dedication ceremony was held on Oct. 11.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Giants 300 University Report
University construction spending is 13% higher than a year ago—mostly for residence halls and infrastructure on public campuses—and is expected to slip less than 5% over the next two years. However, the value of starts dropped about 10% in recent months and will not return to the 2007–08 peak for about two years.
| Aug 11, 2010
Team Tames Impossible Site
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the nation's oldest technology university, has long prided itself on its state-of-the-art design and engineering curriculum. Several years ago, to call attention to its equally estimable media and performing arts programs, RPI commissioned British architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw to design the Curtis R.
| Aug 11, 2010
Setting the Green Standard For Community Colleges
“Ohlone College Newark Campus Is the Greenest College in the World!” That bold statement was the official tagline of the festivities surrounding the August 2008 grand opening of Ohlone College's LEED Platinum Newark (Calif.) Center for Health Sciences and Technology. The 130,000-sf, $58 million community college facility stacks up against some of the greenest college buildings in th...
| Aug 11, 2010
University of Arizona College of Medicine
The hope was that a complete restoration and modernization would bring life back to three neoclassic beauties that formerly served as Phoenix Union High School—but time had not treated them kindly. Built in 1911, one year before Arizona became the country's 48th state, the historic high school buildings endured nearly a century of wear and tear and suffered major water damage and years of...
| Aug 11, 2010
Cronkite Communication School Speaks to Phoenix Redevelopment
The city of Phoenix has sprawling suburbs, but its outward expansion caused the downtown core to stagnate—a problem not uncommon to other major metropolitan areas. Reviving the city became a hotbed issue for Mayor Phil Gordon, who envisioned a vibrant downtown that offered opportunities for living, working, learning, and playing.