March, 2011
21
High-Profile: SCUP News
Lerner Ladds + Bartels Completes Bid Documents for URI
Kingston, RI - Lerner Ladds + Bartels recently completed bid documents for a new student housing project at the University of Rhode Island. The Hillside Residence Hall includes 429 beds, multipurpose spaces, offices of residential life, and a classroom to support both living and learning. Acting as a gateway to the University’s Hillside District, the project intends to engage students through the creation of dynamic social spaces designed to promote student interaction on both an academic and recreational level. In addition to new building construction, a new roadway with associated landscape and walkway revisions are part of the project, providing better vehicular and pedestrian connectivity and gaining universal access between the residential, social and academic areas of campus. The selection process for a qualified general contractor is under way after a recent successful bidding review. Bids came in around the targeted budget of $34 million. Keough Construction Management has been brought on board to serve as owner’s project manager as the construction process begins. The project is scheduled to begin construction in March with an anticipated completion date of June 2012. To maintain and enhance the cross– campus ties that are essential at URI, a focus was placed on pedestrian interconnectivity between the different districts on campus.
Rendering of University of Rhode Island Hillside Residence Hall A number of building through-passages at ground level allow for integration of existing pedestrian pathways to other areas of the campus. Careful attention was also paid to establishing universally accessible pathways through the site – a difficult task given the project’s location on a hillside. Another unique challenge was to address the human scale. The visual mass of the residence hall was broken down by separating two residential wings and joining them with a transparent bridge connector in an H configuration. The design further breaks down the residential wings into smaller segments, or “houses,” through the use of exterior glass curtain wall that
encodes the common spaces at the bridge connection and lounge areas. Two courtyards are defined by the configuration of the building, featuring rain garden areas with bands of crushed stone and natural grasses for on-site storm management. The project aims for a holistic approach to sustainability and tries to capture the most effective and economical methods to achieve a green building. A Federal ARRA grant of $74,254 was awarded to the university that will contribute to an innovative solar water heating system. Through the use of this system along with integrated sun shading, natural ventilation, green roofing, radiant heating, recycled content
in building materials, and light dimming systems, the residence hall will aim for a LEED Silver certification through the USGBC. Capturing rainwater from roofs and paved areas will help feed the surrounding vegetated rain gardens, which are not only instructional and visually pleasing, but function to retain and improve the quality of the water falling and flowing onto the site. Over the years, Lerner Ladds + Bartels has completed residence hall projects for thousands of local higher education students. This is not the first, nor the largest residence hall project undertaken. However, the Hillside Residence Hall is the largest entirely new building project that they have been commissioned to design, which makes it a very exciting milestone for the office. The collaborative team, which includes an excellent group of consultants Mackey Mitchell Architects, Odeh Engineers, WJE Engineers & Architects, PARE Corporation, Carol R. Johnson Associates, Creative Environment Corp., Daedalus Projects, Hughes Associates, Earleylight, Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, along with a very creative and proactive owner’s group including Tom Frisbie-Fulton, Chip Yensan, and Paul DePace at the University of Rhode Island, will ensure that the residence hall is at the forefront of contemporary design.
Temporary or Permanent? For more information on award-winning modular construction, please visit triumphmodular.com. www.high-profile.com