DESIGNING FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
Creating Inspiring Campus Environments
About SCB
SCB is an architecture, planning, interior and urban design firm. Founded in 1931, the firm provides design services from Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle.
SCB is at the forefront of dense urban living, innovative workplaces, inspiring learning environments, resilient infrastructure, and vibrant communities. Through the collective impact of nearly a century of work, the firm has made an indelible mark on the contemporary landscape.
Our diverse practice includes architectural design, campus planning, programming, and interior design for projects that include dining halls, student unions, student residence halls, academic buildings, teaching and research laboratories, athletic facilities, and offices for faculty and administrative staff. Our team is nimble, creative, and dedicated to creating environments that promote student success and contribute to a greater campus and community context. Our designs are responsive, responsible, and distinctive. We’re future-oriented, continually challenging ourselves to design to a higher standard, innovate at every level, and give our university clients more as we achieve design excellence.
The Summit at University City Drexel University
Campus Life
Pomona-Pitzer Center for Athletics, Recreation and Wellness
Pomona College
Client: Pomona College
Location: Claremont, CA
Size: 26,000 SF (Renovation)
74,000 SF (Addition)
The Pomona-Pitzer Center for Athletics, Recreation and Wellness (the Center) is a comprehensive programmatic renewal, renovation, and addition to a facility that has served the campus since 1950. The building occupies an important site adjacent to the campus’s historic Marston Quadrangle, its mature oak trees and architectural context of transitional arcades, loggias, and portals directly inspiring the design of the Center.
The Center’s identity on the Quad is expressed as a semi-enclosed forecourt, which appropriates the scale and rhythm of the adjacent Bridges Auditorium arcade to create an outdoor room that celebrates arrival and mimics the shadow play of the ubiquitous oak tree canopies through a series of perforated metal infill panels. The building’s character, while derived from the campus’s Mediterranean roots, is conveyed in a palette of taut precast concrete panels, clerestory windows, and a unified hip roof.
THE CENTER IS LEED PLATINUM, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY, WATER USE REDUCTION, AND INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.
A feasibility analysis determined that the only component of the existing building suitable for renovation was the indoor athletics competition gym, which became seamlessly integrated into the new addition. New program spaces include team locker rooms, athletic departmental offices, training, strength and conditioning, as well as recreational fitness and sports courts, studios, and classrooms.
At the heart of the Center is a student commons, which features a terraced stair and seating areas within a skylit doubleheight volume. Recreational and wellness program offerings are transparently organized around the commons, inviting participation and conveying activity. A new recreational gymnasium located on the second level affords natural daylighting and features prominent views of the San Gabriel mountains through a dramatic glass backdrop. The gymnasium’s structure is composed of cross-laminated timber supported by steel trusses.
The Center is LEED Platinum, designed with an emphasis on energy efficiency, water use reduction, and indoor environmental quality. The facility features an EUI of 39.2 kBtu/ft²/year and uses 40% less water than the baseline annually. The landscape design supports the ecosystem by using native and adaptive species that require less water and pesticide, creating habitat, and treating stormwater on-site that infiltrates and replenishes the groundwater. Efficient irrigation reduces potable water consumption for irrigation by 64%.
Pomona-Pitzer Center for Athletics, Recreation and Wellness
“PARTICIPATION IN THE ATHLETICS, RECREATION AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS AT POMONA COLLEGE HAS BEEN ENERGIZED WITH THE OPENING OF THIS BUILDING. WE BELIEVE THIS IS DUE TO THE THOUGHTFUL AND STRATEGIC DESIGN, AS WELL AS THE INVITING EXTERIOR OF THE BUILDING WHICH FITS SEAMLESSLY INTO THE CAMPUS.”
BRIAN FABER Director of Project Management
Pomona College
Pomona-Pitzer Center for Athletics, Recreation and Wellness Pomona College
Sports + Recreation Complex Loyola University Chicago
JOSEPH J. GENTILE ARENA 45,000 SF HALAS STUDENT RECREATION CENTER
ARNOLD J. DAMEN STUDENT CENTER
Client: Loyola University
Location: Chicago, IL
Size: 280,200 SF
Loyola University Chicago’s Reimagine campaign was launched to revitalize the student life program at the University’s Lake Shore Campus. SCB was retained for the planning and design of the Lake Shore Sports and Recreation Complexan ambitious, four-phased, state-of-the-art athletics and student recreation complex. This project was intended to help build Loyola’s success in intercollegiate athletics, as well as provide student residents and alumni with recreation and fitness facilities on-campus.
Norville Center for Intercollegiate Athletics
The Norville Center is a 75,000 squarefoot, three-story training facility for varsity athletic programs. The building houses a student athlete academic center, a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning training center, a sports medicine center, offices for coaches and administrators, and modern locker rooms.
Halas Recreation Center
The renovation and expansion of the existing Halas Recreation Center is a model for adaptive reuse of an underutilized campus structure. A new brick and glass facade allows the building to seamlessly connect to the other facility components of the greater Sports + Recreation Complex, as well as complement the traditional campus center. As a full service recreation and fitness center, Halas provides studios for group exercise, space for cardio and weight training, as well as supporting locker rooms and administrative space. The LEED Silver certified facility also houses climbing wall and a 25-yard, multiple lane pool.
AWARDS: NIRSA Outstanding Sports Facilities
Joseph J. Gentile Arena
The Gentile Arena is a state-of-the-art sports arena that serves as the new home of the Loyola University Ramblers sports program. The 4,500-seat arena is used for men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball, as well as Loyola special events (including commencement) and Rogers Park-Edgewater neighborhood gatherings, concerts, and performances. The arena’s unique design allows the space to be configured for a variety of crowd sizes and events. Initial tiered bleachers retract hydraulically to open up the space or change to dual court events. For a more intimate setting, large blackout draperies can be lowered to cordon off tiers of seating. The arena concourse features new concession stands, restrooms, locker rooms, hospitality rooms, and storage areas.
Arnold J. Damen, S.J. Student Center
Focused around a sun-filled atrium, the Damen Center’s networked and interlinked activity spaces accommodate student dining, collaborative learning spaces, student services offices, ecumenical faith worship spaces, offices for student groups, movie theater, retail, student lounge, and entertainment areas. This vibrant mix of comfortable and inviting spaces provides students with a new campus community center designed for study, dining, and play.
The Damen Center enhances the main gateway to campus on the north side and along the west quad, and its architecture provides a new face for Loyola’s student life. The design marries Loyola’s traditional collegiate masonry architecture with high performance, daylit, energy efficient, environmentally friendly spaces that result in a LEED Silver rating and reflect the University’s commitment to sustainability.
“SCB SHOWED TREMENDOUS FLEXIBILITY & THOUGHTFULNESS IN DESIGNING AND COMPLETING A LARGE-SCALE, MULTI-PHASED PROJECT OF THIS COMPLEXITY, PROVIDING A LEVEL OF SERVICE, CONSISTENCY, AND QUALITY UNSURPASSED IN OUR EXPERIENCE.”
KANA HENNING
Associate Vice President for Facilities
Loyola University Chicago
Wilkerson Commons University of North Dakota
Client: University of North Dakota
Location: Grand Forks, ND
Size: 46,000 SF (Renovation), 21,000 SF (Addition), 550 seats
Wilkerson Commons at The University of North Dakota-Grand Forks (UND) was a dated dining facility that no longer addressed the needs of the thousands of students living within the surrounding two blocks. UND hired SCB as the design architect and interior designer with JLG Architects as the architect-of-record to assess the facility and develop a renovation and expansion solution that would turn the dining hall into an award-winning, vibrant, and modern student center that would serve as a community anchor on campus.
Critical to SCB’s approach to developing a program for the project was creating an open communication process where students, faculty, staff, and administrators could share ideas, concerns, and desires for the new building. Through a series of surveys, interviews, and focus groups, the team created a complete and comprehensive program to guide the design process.
LINKAGES
LINKAGES
UNIVERSITY AVENUE PRESENCE
LINKAGES
MAIN ENTRY
LINKAGES
VIEWS OF ALUMNI CENTER
VIEWS TO NATURE
VIEWS TO CAMPUS
Constructed in 1969, the original design of the building used glass sparingly in response to the harsh climate and the quality of building materials available at the time. To bring the structure into the modern day, the design team developed a new façade that incorporates ample glass, thus allowing the building to connect to the outdoors and making use of varied natural light available throughout the year.
The first floor features a range of spaces for student services, including offices for Residential Life and technology support, as well as meeting rooms, study lounges, a campus convenience store, and the Stomping Grounds coffee shop. The second floor consists of a full service dining facility with a newly expanded kitchen and servery featuring eight display cooking concepts. The dining area accommodates 550 and features a variety of seating options. Located adjacent to the dining is an Innovation Lab offering a variety of technological resources for student collaboration and work. BEFORE
Wilkerson Commons
Dundee Residence Hall and Glasgow Dining Commons University
of California, Riverside
Client: American Campus Communities; University of California, Riverside
Location: Riverside, CA
Size: Housing: 176,000 SF; Dining: 52,000 SF
Dundee Residence Hall and Glasgow Dining Commons are the first of several large-scale projects adding residential capacity and transforming the campus experience at UC Riverside. Located adjacent to the campus’ original residence halls, Aberdeen-Inverness (A&I), the 820bed Dundee Residence Hall complements the geometry of A&I, utilizing two sevenstory buildings to form a shared outdoor courtyard. The courtyard serves as the “living room” of the community, offering a variety of recreational and social, as well as contemplative spaces, amidst a landscape of native plantings.
The buildings are carefully sited with respect to natural sightlines and campus connections, with upper floor student lounges strategically positioned as “lanterns” to the community. Ground floor amenities focused on living and learning include three seminar classrooms, a large multi-purpose room, as well as more social spaces such as a large resident lounge with a stage, music practice studios, and a recreation and gaming lounge, to name a few. Dundee Residence Hall is LEED Gold.
University of California, Riverside
Dundee Residence Hall and Glasgow Dining Commons
At the courtyard’s southern reach, a large portal through Dundee South Hall reveals the 800+-seat Glasgow Dining Commons, the residential precinct’s signature building. Sweeping walls of glazed curtain wall are shrouded within a louvered shell, allowing for dramatic views of the surrounding Box Spring Mountains, while mitigating solar gain and glare.
The 52,000 square-foot all-you-care-toeat facility offers six unique food venues, including a central demonstration kitchen and exhibition bakery, as well as a graband-go convenience store. An elevated outdoor dining terrace provides additional seating, taking advantage of the campus’ hospitable climate, year-round. Glasgow Commons is LEED Silver.
Dundee Residence Hall and Glasgow Dining Commons
The Morris Inn University of Notre Dame
Client: University of Notre Dame
Location: South Bend, IN
Size: 150,000 SF, 150 keys
The Morris Inn has served as the front door to the University of Notre Dame for over 60 years and is a hub for activity and gathering for alumni, faculty, students, and administrators. In association with hotel interiors design firm The Gettys Group, SCB re-envisioned this campus landmark through a complete renovation and 54,000-square-foot expansion of the original facility.
To integrate with the existing campus aesthetic, SCB’s design incorporated a completely new brick and stone, collegiate gothic façade that wraps around the original 1950s facility and offers a new porte cochere guest drop-off.
THE NEW MORRIS INN NOW FITS IN WITH THE HEART OF NOTRE DAME’S STORIED CAMPUS AND CONTINUES ITS TRADITION AS THE “LIVING ROOM OF THE UNIVERSITY.”
The program included an additional 60 guest rooms to make a total of 150 rooms, and a new 300-seat capacity ballroom that can be reconfigured into three smaller meeting rooms. There are several new areas for dining, including a 1,800-square-foot, 100-seat private dining room divisible into three smaller rooms, a new 75-seat pub with casual dining, and a renovated and expanded lobby.
The Morris Inn was designed to use 18 percent less energy than code. Through a measurement and verification process, the project achieved a measured performance of 30 percent better than code, thus the hotel was awarded LEED Gold.
The Summit at University City
Drexel University
Client: Drexel University; American Campus Communities
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Size: 585,000 SF
Developed in partnership with Drexel University and American Campus Communities, this 1,315-bed, 24 story tower blends the principles of high-rise design with the unique needs of student residents. SCB drew from the firm’s extensive experience in the high-rise residential market to design efficient floor plans that maximize views to the city and campus and incorporate a variety of 2-4 bedroom apartment and suite style units. The building responds to the character of the adjacent Powelton Village neighborhood with a low-rise retail storefront base that enhances the pedestrian experience on Lancaster Avenue.
The design team sought to activate the ground level of the building, emphasizing community spaces including a lobby lounge connected to a Starbucks, recreation and fitness center, theatre, cyber lounge, group study rooms, and business and mail center.
As an addition to both the university campus and the greater University City neighborhood, ACC and Drexel recognized that the building should provide amenities to students and members of the broader community alike. To address that need, the building offers Urban Eatery, a full service dining facility that is open to the public. Urban Eatery features a variety of dining options including numerous themed eateries and a late night grab and go café. With the iconic dining pavilion and an engaging entry plaza, The Summit is a new hub of student life within University City.
The Summit at University City Drexel University
Residential College (ResCo)
Butler University
Client: Butler University
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Size: 158,000 SF, 413 beds;
Dining: 23,000 SF, 250 seats
Residential College (ResCo) is a first-year residence hall and dining facility at Butler University. As part of a multi-phased transformation of its campus residential experience, including two new residence halls designed by SCB, Butler re-engaged the firm to complete a full renovation of ResCo, the building’s first since its completion in 1989, to bring it up to par with the newer residential and dining offerings on campus.
The 413-bed community was updated with new finishes and furniture throughout, including residential units, bathrooms, and corridors. Amenity spaces throughout the residential floors were re-programmed to offer each floor three distinct spaces; a social lounge, dedicated quiet study room, and a hybrid space for group work. Larger community spaces on the ground floor and second floor of the building were also completely renovated, upgrading the social and study spaces, as well as meeting rooms and offices. Replacing solid walls with glass and creating perimeter study rooms increased natural light within the interior spaces, reducing the need for supplemental lighting, and adding spaces to accommodate diverse study preferences and needs. Extensive materials research identified fabrics and finishes that met institutional performance needs but looked and felt more soft and residential in nature.
The dining hall was reimagined to serve the greater campus community. The 23,000-square-foot, 250-seat dining hall is open for lunch, dinner, and late-night service and offers a variety of fresh-made food options as well as an expanded grab-and-go. An expanded servery and double-height main seating area creates a bright and welcoming space.
By utilizing existing architecture and all furniture dining solutions, the space is flexible, allowing the university to close the servery and keep the seating area open as study space. A variety of seating types serve both diners and those studying.The design team was challenged to overcome the perception of the building’s exterior, which stands in contrast to the campus’ more collegiate gothic vocabulary, while integrating the residential and dining experience within the Butler tradition. Thus, the vision for the interior design leaned heavily towards creating hospitalityforward, classically collegiate spaces in line with Butler’s distinct campus context. A large mural in the dining hall captures wellknown places and cultural campus references.
Classroom and Academic Office Building
University of California, Merced
Learning Environments
The John and Kathy Schreiber Center Loyola University Chicago
Client: Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business Administration
Location: Chicago, IL
Size: 150,000 SF
The new John and Kathy Schreiber Center at the Quinlan School of Business Administration is a 150,000-square-foot, 10-story, mixed-use vertical campus located in the heart of Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower campus in downtown Chicago. The building is centered around a glass atrium inspired by architect Daniel Burnham’s use of atria to bring the outdoors in. This modern atrium allows for an abundance of daylight to reach all interior spaces, while also promoting transparency and inclusion—elegantly signifying Loyola’s ethics-driven educational ideals of social justice and equality. The building offers programmatically integrated spaces, active learning classrooms, faculty offices, and a social stair climbing the full height of the building to encourage interaction, passage, and collaboration. The tower groups faculty offices and classrooms into two-story neighborhoods, creating smaller, more intimate community gathering spaces throughout the building.
The LEED Gold building features a custom sustainable design for the urban environment, taking into account unpredictable winds, street noise, and air quality. It utilizes a highly efficient envelope design and operates using a variety of sustainable building and mechanical systems such as natural ventilation, daylighting, radiant heating and cooling, and self-shading.
Howard S. and Alida S. Charney Hall of Law Santa Clara University
Client: Santa Clara University
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Size: 97,000 SF
Future-focused yet rooted in tradition, Howard S. and Alida S. Charney Hall is the new home of the Santa Clara University School of Law. Weaving together collaboration, research, instructional, and student support space, Charney Hall is a vibrant academic forum where dialogue and exchange of ideas is encouraged. The three-story, 97,000-square-foot facility houses the University’s numerous academic law programs, including intellectual property law, international law, public interest and social justice law, and privacy law.
SCB’s design complements the University’s traditional campus core, offering a contemporary take on the mission style while embracing the University’s Jesuit educational mission. The building’s design conveys transparency and inclusion, and incorporates sustainable strategies to create a low-impact, environmentally responsive building aligned with Jesuit ideals.
The two-story lobby/circulation area facilitates visual connections throughout the building, while the third floor roof terrace offers views of campus and the surrounding area. A large entry plaza features outdoor seating and can be configured to accommodate a number of university events.
Charney Hall includes a 230-seat lecture hall that can be divided into two 115-seat lecture halls as well as several different mock court layouts. The building also features a 1,700-square-foot collaborative learning classroom. A new law library includes 4,300 square feet of stacks and a large reading room with new technologybased research capabilities. A legal clinic provides hands-on experience to law students and services clients and the community. Study spaces and 53 faculty and administrative offices are located throughout the building.
CHARNEY HALL IS A VIBRANT ACADEMIC FORUM WHERE DIALOGUE AND EXCHANGE OF IDEAS IS ENCOURAGED.
Howard S. and Alida S. Charney Hall of Law
Santa Clara University
“THERE IS
MUCH MORE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE STUDENTS AND THE FACULTY/STAFF BECAUSE WE SEE EACH OTHER ALL THE TIME IN THE HALLS NOW. I STOP BY AND TALK TO STUDENTS WHILE THEY ARE STUDYING OR AT THE CAFÉ OUTSIDE MY OFFICE.”
LISA KLOPPENBERG
Acting President, Santa Clara University and Dean Emerita of Santa Clara University School of Law
Oberlin Center for Convergence (StudiOC)
Oberlin College
Client: Oberlin College
Location: Oberlin, OH
Size: 7,000 SF
The Oberlin Center for Convergence (StudiOC) is a flexible learning space designed to host a different multidisciplinary academic program each semester. Each educational program is comprised of courses from different academic departments clustered around a common theme with shared programming. Flexibility and adaptability were key design drivers for the project, anticipating a multitude of potential needs of various user groups. The 7,000-square-foot space features a large open workroom with reconfigurable furniture and moveable white boards. The open space enhances the integrative programming, allowing students to work together and make connections across disciplines, and develop more meaningful interactions with their faculty and peers.
FLEXIBILITY
Three classrooms with moveable partitions that open up to become one large 54seat classroom and a variety of meeting rooms line the perimeter of the workroom. The flexibility of the classroom design allows each cluster to create the type of space that is best suited for its individual program, from small group discussions to more traditional lecture models; the simple, moveable walls allow the space to be reconfigured as many times a day as needed. A suite of 90 SF staff “microoffices” allow for individual work and small group meetings with students and peers.
Oberlin Center for Convergence (StudiOC)
StudiOC is located within the SCBdesigned Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center, a LEED Platinum model for highperformance buildings and whole systems thinking, utilizing a groundbreaking mix of sustainable technologies and innovative visitor engagement strategies. The building utilizes radiant heating and cooling, which is supported by a geothermal well field and derives additional power from the College’s existing photovoltaic array. Other sustainable features include rainwater collection and reuse, exterior automated solar shading devices that respond to weather and sun exposure, a highly effective thermal envelope that uses rain screen technology for long-term moisture control, and natural ventilation through automated window vents and skylights. All interior architectural finishes in StudiOC are American made, many within close proximity to Oberlin, and all fabrics and flooring include recycled content.
Brown Hall Lake Forest College
Client: Lake Forest College
Location: Lake Forest, IL
Size: 25,000 SF (Renovation), 21,000 SF (Addition)
Facing a need for more classrooms and modern, flexible, and tech-enabled learning spaces, Lake Forest College engaged SCB to re-program and renovate Young Hall (1878), the College’s main administration building, and design a 21,000-square-foot addition to create the new Brown Hall. SCB’s design concept evolved from the idea of architecture telling the history of education at the College; a progression from more traditional classroom spaces located in the historic portion of the project to more collaborative, active learning spaces in the new addition.
The design team took a holistic approach to planning for the renovation and addition; assigning program elements between the two buildings based on space needs. The program for Brown Hall takes advantage of the longer structural spans and glass curtain wall afforded by new construction and features mostly new instructional spaces. On the ground floor, a large, divisible multipurpose room offers panoramic views of the main quad.
Above, six flexible classrooms span the second and third floors. Small group study rooms and informal collaboration areas are dispersed throughout. Faculty offices and seminar rooms comprise Young Hall, their smaller size more conducive to the limitations of the historic structure and design.
Young Hall meets the new Brown Hall through a shared glass entry between the buildings. The transparent, two-story link allows the historic Young Hall to be perceived as an independent structure; the south-facing exterior wall now enclosed as part of a light-filled learning commons. The exterior expression of Brown Hall respects the Second Empire architectural style of Young Hall, using a similar color of brick and roofing, and playing off the armature of the historic arched windows. The interior design also takes inspiration from Young Hall, offering a fresh take on traditional interior finishes and patterns such as wainscotting and houndstooth.
THE HISTORIC YOUNG HALL MEETS THE NEW BROWN HALL THROUGH A SHARED GLASS ENTRY BETWEEN THE BUILDINGS.
Brown Hall Lake Forest College
Health and Social Innovation Centre University of New Brunswick
Client: University of New Brunswick
Location: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Size: 60,000 SF
The new Health and Social Innovation Centre at the University of New Brunswick is an interdisciplinary health science facility that aims to not only facilitate collaboration amongst disparate research groups, but also between students and faculty. The 60,000-square-foot, 4 story building occupies a prominent site in the campus’ academic core and redefines the central quad with its modern and transparent design.
The building’s program ascends from public, more student-centric spaces to quieter, private spaces. By stepping down a level, the design team was able to connect the building to the campus’ existing pedestrian tunnel system. This floor features a retail food outlet, a large gathering space for students, and two active learning classrooms. A social stair connects the space to the quad-level above, which features an additional active-learning classroom, as well as a suite of flexible spaces that can be used as faculty offices, conference rooms, or group study rooms.
A TIMBER STRUCTURE ENCAPSULATES THE LARGER, MORE SOCIALLYFOCUSED SPACES.
Researcher offices and associated support spaces arranged into pods are located on the second floor, along with student study spaces, giving students exposure and access to the research based program. Level three offers a large multi-purpose room paired with a test kitchen, quieter places for individual contemplation and views to the Saint John and Kennebecasis Rivers. Outdoors, the project offers a healing garden filled with natural herbs and remedies associated with local first nations tribes and a plaza that can be flooded in the winter for recreational hockey and ice skating.
The building utilizes a hybrid structural system of steel, concrete, and timber. Acknowledging the desire for flexibility and adaptability, the more formally programmed spaces are contained within the steel portion of the building, allowing for the floors to be re-purposed and re-planned as institutional needs change. A precast concrete offset core houses gender-neutral restrooms and vertical circulation. A timber structure encapsulates the larger, more socially-focused spaces, offering a warmer aesthetic. The project is targeting LEED Gold.
The interior design for the building reflects the programmatic ascent with the notion of water, land, and sky. The palette of materials for the lower levels take their cue from the blue tones of the ocean, and meet the land at the large wooden social stair. The land continues through the next two levels with warm neutrals and wood, reaching the sky on the third floor, signified through a cloudlike ceiling element.
Center for Translational Research and Education Loyola University Chicago
Client: Loyola University Chicago
Location: Maywood, IL
Size: 262,000 SF
The Center for Translational Research and Education (CTRE) is an integrated research and teaching facility that augments bench-to-bedside effectiveness created by co-localizing basic sciences with clinical research, including population, health services, nursing and intervention foci, all targeted on improving prevention strategies and treatment outcomes for the patient.
The CTRE allows for program consolidation; provides a high-quality interactive and collaborative research environment; supports program growth; and encourages outreach and interaction between the Loyola University Chicago Health Sciences Campus, Loyola University Health System, and the surrounding community. The SCB-led design team focused on creating flexible, state-of-theart laboratory spaces and a variety of office and collaborative environments on the upper floors, as well as a more public, accessible ground floor with an auditorium for large lectures and public, health-related community events.
Working with Transsolar, the design team’s sustainable approach concentrated on environmental stewardship, energy efficiency, and interior environmental quality. The research laboratories are awash in daylight and surrounded by a naturally ventilated area for write ups. The project is LEED Gold. Programming and lab and vivarium planning for the project was provided by SmithGroupJJR.
THE CTRE ALLOWS FOR PROGRAM CONSOLIDATION; PROVIDES A HIGH-QUALITY INTERACTIVE AND COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT; AND SUPPORTS PROGRAM GROWTH.
Cinema and Television Arts Department
Columbia College Chicago
Client: Columbia College Chicago
Location: Chicago, IL
Size: 17,000 SF
SCB renovated the third floor of 1104 South Wabash Avenue to house various functions for the Cinema and Television Arts Department of Columbia College. The project began with a complete facility assessment and programming exercise with the Department’s leadership. The project goals were to create a signature space for the Department where students can work together in an open environment that is conducive to creativity and abstract thought.
The 17,000-square-foot renovated space includes a 144-seat fanned projection capable lecture theater, four flexible classrooms, a new open writing/directing/ producing laboratory, a reconfigured reception space, and an administrative/ faculty office suite.
The design inspiration was the department’s concept of creation, being able to see beyond two-dimension. This notion is manifested through the use of glass and sidelights built into the spaces “beyond” the physical wall. The open laboratory features pivoting dry erase walls and moveable furniture, allowing the area to be reconfigured for various functions and purposes. Casual lounge seating in the new lobby provides additional gathering space for students. The new layout for the floor allows for the office suite to be secured after-class hours, while the classrooms and lounge spaces remain open for extended hour student use.
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing & Center for Collaborative Learning
Loyola University Chicago
Client: Loyola University Chicago
Location: Maywood, IL
Size: 60,000 SF
Located on Loyola University’s Medical Center Campus in Maywood, Illinois, the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and Center for Collaborative Learning is the new home of the University’s nursing program. An educationally innovative model in medical education, the facility directly links the new nursing school to the existing medical school. In this collaborative learning environment, students simulate real world situations, working and learning together as a medical team. The four story building houses a learning commons and quiet study area, as well as a cafe, classrooms, lecture hall, faculty offices, and full floor hospital simulation lab for mock medical and nursing procedures.
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing & Center for Collaborative Learning
SCB and Transsolar Engineering collaborated in the design of the sustainable facility, which is LEED Gold certified. The 60,000 SF building utilizes a radiant slab for heating and cooling, as well as a natural ventilation system, which uses automated windows and solar chimneys to pre-heat air and generate currents of fresh air throughout the building. The building’s glass enclosure maximizes natural lighting, while fixed external shades on the south wall and an operable external shading system on the west wall help mitigate heat gain. This combination of sustainable strategies has resulted in substantial energy savings, reduced operating costs, and a healthy workplace for students and faculty.
Pennoni Honors College
Drexel University
Client: Drexel University
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Size: 11,000 SF
SCB was selected as the architect and interior designer for an 11,000-squarefoot academic building to serve as the new home to the Pennoni Honors College. Connected to Bentley Hall, a residence hall also renovated by SCB, the addition provides the Honors College with a new identity and is differentiated from the larger Bentley Hall through a modern stone and glass architectural expression. A front porch extending the length of the addition enlivens the Arch Street façade with outdoor seating and an unobstructed visual connection to the interior spaces.
The ground floor connects seamlessly to reimagined Bentley Hall and houses three seminar rooms, quiet study space, and a “living room” for the honors college. This rich, programmatic mix provides abundant options for students and faculty to gather. The interior design for the space takes cues from the original mid-century vintage of Bentley Hall including modern furniture, vibrant art, and lighting inspired by the era. The second floor houses a suite of offices for faculty and Honors College staff, organized around a central shared lounge.
The new addition provides the Honors College with a new identity and is differentiated from the larger Bentley Hall through a modern stone and glass architectural expression. A front porch extending the length of the addition enlivens the Arch Street façade with outdoor seating and an unobstructed visual connection to the interior spaces. The second floor houses a suite of offices for faculty and Honors College staff, organized around a central shared lounge.
Pennoni Honors College Drexel University
Tooker House
State University
Student Residential
Tooker House Arizona State University
Client: American Campus Communities, Arizona State University
Location: Tempe, AZ
Size: 458,000 SF
Tooker House at Arizona State University is a new living/learning community designed to serve freshman engineering students. The seven-story, 458,000-square-foot project includes 1,582 beds for students in semi-suite units, staff apartments, a 525-seat dining hall, a convenience store, numerous dedicated student study and social lounges, and a fitness center. A large maker lab enjoys a prominent and highly visible location on the ground floor of the building, expanding the academic core of the campus and providing residents with space and resources to continue class work and experimental ideas at any time of day. Sliding glass walls allow activities to spill outdoors, where exhibition pedestals enable students to present their work and invite passersby to learn more.
TOOKER HOUSE IS A NEW CAMPUS ANCHOR DESIGNED TO RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUPPORT THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE.
AWARDS: SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture for a New Building, Honorable Mention
AIA Chicago Design Excellence Awards, Citation of Merit, Distinguished Building
American Architecture Award
Architizer A+ Awards, Popular Choice Award
Architecture Podium International Architecture Awards First Award – Institutional Building (Built)
Global Architecture & Design Awards Honorable Mention – Institutional (Built)
Multifamily Executive (MFE) Awards Project of the Year – Student Housing
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Best in American Living, Student Housing Gold Award
Gold Nugget Awards Grand Winner – Best Student or Faculty Housing, On or Off Campus Residential
Student Housing Business Innovator Award –On-Campus: Best Architecture/Design, Best Use of Green & Sustainable Construction or Development
“THIS MIXED-USE LIVING AND LEARNING FACILITY SETS A NEW STANDARD IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND REFLECTS THE BREADTH AND DEPTH OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE AT THE LARGEST ENGINEERING SCHOOL IN THE NATION.”
Dean of the Fulton Schools of Engineering
KYLE SQUIRES
Arizona State University
Tooker House Arizona State University
Using the vernacular of desert architecture as its point of departure, SCB created a LEED Gold sustainable building appropriate to its context that could endure, and even leverage, the harsh desert climate of Tempe.
The siting, shape, and massing were developed through extensive shading studies on the constrained campus site. The complex’s figure-eight shape positions the two primary building masses in parallel positions facing east-west, which allows the building to “self-shade” interior courtyards and facades. The southern façade incorporates U-shaped visors and an array of perforated vertical louvers designed and positioned according to a sophisticated algorithm, presenting visual interest and ensuring appropriate daylight control unique to each window’s location on the façade.
The massing also facilitates wind movement through the interior, shaded courtyards, and between the building’s masses. Perforated metal panels on the building’s bridges and breezeways promote airflow through those spaces. Rainwater is harvested from the roof and nourishes select landscape zones in bioswales, reducing the reliance on potable water while also reducing the amount of underground piping and vault infrastructure.
SOLAR SHADING Perforated Screen
SOLAR SHADING Sun Shades
David Blackwell Hall University of California, Berkeley
Client: American Campus Communities, University of California, Berkeley
Location: Berkeley, CA
Size: 184,000 SF
David Blackwell Hall is a new residence hall at the University of California Berkeley. Developed through a Public-PrivatePartnership (P3) with American Campus Communities (ACC), the 184,000-squarefoot mixed-use project combines urban planning principles, innovative sustainable systems, and campus design sensibilities to create a unique new addition to both the UCB campus and the South Berkeley community.
The building provides 776 beds of firstyear undergraduate housing organized into a series of pods made up of double occupancy rooms and gender-inclusive bathrooms. Student amenities including an academic success center, fitness center, and entry lounge along with 7,000 square feet of ground floor retail activate Dana and Durant Streets. The building also provides a new home for Stiles Hall, a mission-driven community service organization that has engaged UC Berkeley students for over 125 years.
The project is LEED Gold through a variety of sustainable features and systems focused on reducing energy consumption. Air conditioning is provided only in shared, communal spaces; residential units are served by low velocity, tempered ventilation, which is augmented by operable windows and supplemented by individually controlled electric radiant modules over the windows. Responsive lighting throughout adjusts in brightness according to the amount of natural light infiltrating the building at different points in the day. Blackwell Hall consumes 44% less energy than required by the stringent local code, achieving an energy use intensity of 36 kBtu/square foot. It meets the ambitious energy targets set by the American Institute of Architects’ 2030 Challenge, performing 70% better than similar buildings in the same climate.
BLACKWELL HALL MEETS THE AMBITIOUS ENERGY TARGETS SET BY THE AIA’S 2030 CHALLENGE, PERFORMING 70% BETTER THAN SIMILAR BUILDINGS IN THE SAME CLIMATE.
David Blackwell Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Kelly Hall Renovation and Addition
Drexel University
Client: Drexel University
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Size: 84,000 SF
Kelly Hall is a case study in how a small, strategic addition can revitalize a whole residential community. Originally constructed in 1967, the 11-story residential tower was designed by Baader, Young, & Schultze. The renovation included a full restoration of the masonry façade, replacement of all windows, and upgrades to all building systems.
The original building basement provided space for student amenities but was dark and hidden from view. By taking advantage of the grade change along the site the design team excavated the lower level, opening the space to natural light. A small 4,000 square-foot addition extends the floor plates of the original ground level and lower level and allows for the creation of a new academic success center, which is open to the full campus community.
A fully glazed double height atrium which features a monumental communicating stair, is linked to a new landscaped outdoor plaza. Academic-focused amenities include larger informal collaborative areas, along with small group meeting rooms and individual study spaces.
The original main entrance to the building remains, now becoming a secure point of entry for residents only. The exterior design of the addition works within the material dialogue of Kelly Hall, utilizing regionally sourced stone and taking cues from the implied lines and geometries within the existing building. A screening element serves dual purposes mitigating thermal gain and solar glare, while also helping to prevent bird strike.
THE EXTERIOR DESIGN OF THE ADDITION WORKS WITHIN THE MATERIAL DIALOGUE OF KELLY HALL, TAKING CUES FROM THE IMPLIED LINES AND GEOMETRIES WITHIN THE EXISTING BUILDING.
Inside, minimal alterations were made to the residential floorplans; the 410 beds were maintained as traditional doubleoccupancy rooms, while the existing shared community bathrooms were updated to offer private shower and toilet stalls. The residential floors are linked through a series of central, twostory social lounges. Here, the design team took the opportunity to celebrate these communal spaces by replacing the masonry façade with a glass curtainwall, as well as opening visual access to the lounges from the interior through the use of glazing, allowing daylight into the primary circulation path on each floor.
Kelly Hall Renovation and Addition
HIDA Living/Learning Community Arizona State University
Client: American Campus Communities, Arizona State University
Location: Tempe, AZ
Size: 265,000 SF, 820 beds, 350 seats dining
The Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (HIDA) Living/Learning community exemplifies how an innovative mixed-use campus project can create a unique residential experience and support student needs in a distinct educational program. By blending spaces for living, learning, dining, and making, the tailor-designed building offers opportunities for both artistic exploration and social growth. The design is rooted in the notions of porosity and activation, which serve as foundational elements of the project.
The massing of the buildings combines a strong urban edge with a large campusfacing portal leading to an internal activated plaza, which serves as a central nexus for the mixed-use program. A dynamic lilac ceiling plane weaves together the various outdoor and indoor program elements, creating a fluid and engaging user experience through the site and buildings.
The exterior design for the project is a layered study of materials inspired by the natural desert environment. Complementing the subtle palette, iridescent, perforated metal fins and screens animate the façade and create an expressive identity for the building in the otherwise modest campus edge context. They also serve in a functional capacity, mitigating solar exposure and providing privacy for the residences. The project is targeting LEED Gold.
Entering the residence hall from the plaza, a lobby gallery space adorned with student work sets the stage for a living/learning community in support of the arts. An adaptable, centralized studio with movable furniture is surrounded by a series of enclosed workrooms. The connection to the outdoors remains uninterrupted through the floor-to-ceiling glazing, which creates a seamless blend between inside and outside. Moving upward, the residence hall comprises 820 beds organized into semi-suites, punctuated by communal spaces including two-story lounges, where spaces more social in nature, such as shared kitchens, coexist with quieter areas dedicated to focus and study.
Extending from the plaza towards campus is an 11,000-sf structure for the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. The building stands as an artistic haven, housing a dance studio, stop-motion studio, and a printing and paper-making studio and garden. Tucked under the mass of the building, a 350-seat dining hall along with a 100-person multipurpose room completes the mixed-use program, offering a variety of venues and seating areas beneath a large sculptural mesh chandelier installation.
Academic and Residential Complex University of Illinois at Chicago
Client: American Campus Communities, University of Illinois at Chicago
Location: Chicago, IL
Size: 201,000 SF
The Academic and Residential Complex is a new mixed-use building at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Developed through a Public-Private-Partnership (P3), the building is composed of a 52,000-squarefoot, two-story academic classroom building, and 131,000-square-foot, 10-story undergraduate residence hall. Designed with a “nod to Netsch,” the original architect of the campus, the building’s façade and interiors echo the geometric movement expressed in Netsch’s “field theory” and distinctive architecture.
AS CAMPUSES LOOK TO COMBINE PHYSICAL AND CAPITAL RESOURCES, MIXEDUSE BUILDINGS LIKE THE ARC DEMONSTRATE THE OPPORTUNITIES CREATED BY MERGING DISPARATE PROGRAMS INTO ONE FACILITY.
The academic classroom building has large tiered collaborative classrooms arranged in a turn-to-team configuration, two 72-seat active learning classrooms, and two 32-seat flexible classrooms. Break-out spaces are provided throughout the building to encourage collaboration amongst students and help foster faculty-student interactions.
Sustainability was a key design driver from the start of the project. The building is sited in response to optimal solar orientation to mitigate heat gain. Extensive daylight studies with regard to the classrooms helped inform the design of folded aluminum fins along the exterior of the building to allow for maximum natural light while blocking direct glare. The project is certified LEED Gold.
TEAM VIEW ANGLES
STUDENT VIEW ANGLES
PROFESSOR VIEW ANGLES
The residential tower includes 554 beds in traditional and semisuite units. Also included are two faculty-in-residence apartments. Shared amenities include study and social lounges on each floor, a fitness center, laundry rooms, and a ground floor Starbucks. The top floor features a sky lounge with commanding views of downtown Chicago, perfect for residential life programming and quiet study.
AWARDS: AIA Education Facility Design Award
AIA Chicago Design Excellence Awards, Citation of Merit, Distinguished Building
American Architecture Award, Schools and Universities Category
Student Housing Business Innovator Awards, Best Architecture/Design; Best Implementation of Mixed-Use or Live-Learn; Best New Development by a College, University or Institution
International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Red Awards, Education Award
National Association of Home Builders Multifamily Pillars of the Industry Award, Best On-Campus Student Housing Community
Architizer A+ Awards, Institutional-Higher Education & Research Facilities, Popular Choice Award
North District Phase One University of California, Riverside
Client: University of California, Riverside; American Campus Communities
Location: Riverside, CA
Size: 534,000 SF, 1,500 beds
The North District is a new 50-acre living-learning district at UCR that, when complete, will transform the campus life experience for this growing university. Consistent with UCR’s Long Range Development Plan, the University identified a low-density and functionally obsolete expanse campus for this ambitious and transformational project. The North District Master Plan calls for the creation of 6,000 beds of student housing to address UCR’s substantial projected increase in student enrollment by 2030. Drawing from a more urban-style approach to planning, the mixed-use North District will feature a multitude of facilities in addition to housing, including a dining commons, plazas, academic spaces, outdoor recreation, and a sports venue.
Phase One of the project is a 1,500-bed upper-division undergraduate apartment community at the terminus of Aberdeen Street onto Linden Street, both major campus thoroughfares. The project is organized into six massings fronting a large, open paseo that visually extends the Aberdeen Mall as a pedestrian-only public space with various gathering areas. The paseo is activated by the diverse program elements of the ground floors of the buildings which include classrooms, a small café, fitness center, resident study and social lounges, and the leasing and residence life office.
North District Phase One
The geometries of the various buildings create three character-defining outdoor courtyards, befitting the region’s high desert climate. The southeast courtyard offers a quieter environment for study and rest and is noted by a multitude of hammocks. The northeast courtyard is a mostly green space centered on a terraced grass berm. The western courtyard, the largest of the three, offers shaded seating areas and a recreation lawn, along with access to the fitness center.
The project is all-electric; the first student housing project to be so on campus. Extensive shading studies informed the siting of the buildings to facilitate selfshading of the facades and courtyards over the course of the day. Water usage by occupants is reduced through low-flow plumbing fixtures. Outside, a landscape of drought tolerant and native plantings is minimally maintained by an efficient lowwater irrigation system.
North District Phase Two University of California, Riverside
Client: University of California, Riverside
Location: Riverside, CA
Size: 417,000 SF
Phase Two of The North District represents a unique collaboration between the University of California, Riverside (UCR) and the Riverside Community College District (RCCD) to create a joint intersegmental student residential community located on the UCR campus. Funded in part through the Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program established in the state’s senate bill (SB) 169, a portion of the project’s units are designated as affordable, offering low-cost housing for students enrolled in either institution. In addition, the project provides RCCD students with a campus residential experience and courses of study geared toward the UC/CSU transfer portals while providing UCR students a more diverse social and academic community.
The 1,568-bed community is located within the North District, a 50-acre living/learning district on the UCR campus. Building off the success of Phase One, which was also designed by SCB, Phase Two serves as a new gateway presence at the north end of campus. The buildings evoke the mid-century architectural tradition of UCR through monumental loggias and the use of exposed concrete and Normanbond brick. The design for the all-electric, five-and-seven story buildings combines climatic responsiveness and passive solar mitigation strategies along with the building program to create an integrated, indoor/ outdoor residential experience. The project is targeting LEED Gold.
An activated ground floor provides student residents with a variety of amenities and administrative services including social and recreation spaces, a fitness center, a grab and go café, centralized laundry facilities, and academic-focused spaces for both group and individual study. Many of the spaces connect seamlessly to two, large, terraced courtyards that serve as tranquil respites and hubs of social interaction for residents.
“THE JOINT UCR/RCCD INTERSEGMENTAL HOUSING PROJECT IS A HOLISTIC AND INNOVATIVE APPROACH DESIGNED TO BREAK DOWN CULTURAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS SURROUNDING ACCESS, SUCCESS, AND EQUITY BY IMMERSING FIRST-GENERATION, LOW-INCOME STUDENTS INTO THE FULL UCR EXPERIENCE.”
WOLDE-AB ISAAC Chancellor, Riverside Community College District
Fairview House and Irvington House Butler University
Client: American Campus Communities, Butler University
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Size: Fairview House: 210,000 SF; Irvington House: 183,000 SF
After completing a residential master plan for the University, SCB was engaged to design two new residential buildings on Butler’s campus. Both projects were developed through a public-private partnership with American Campus Communities (ACC).
The 633-bed residence hall is organized into a series of smaller, six to eight student pod-style communities. Several new unit plans were created for the project, including a two-story, three-bedroom apartment with an open concept living room and kitchen. The residence hall fosters community-building by offering a variety of spaces that promote interaction. With its social and study lounges, shared laundry facilities, and a fitness studio, the building’s design encourages students to move throughout the building, allowing for encounters with other residents. Two faculty-in-residence units offer students deep mentorship networks and provide possibilities for continued learning beyond classroom walls. The building is LEED Gold.
Located at the main entrance to campus, Fairview House, is positioned along Sunset Avenue, straddling the border between campus and the surrounding neighborhood. To incorporate the building into the broader community, the design team worked extensively with neighborhood residents and community groups to build consensus and gain support for the proposed project. The resulting design provides a modern response to the University’s traditional, collegiate, and gothic context while respecting its surroundings with thoughtful architectural gestures toward neighboring buildings.
Fairview House and Irvington House
Soon to follow was Irvington House, a first-year residence hall adjacent to the University’s student union, Atherton Hall, which offers 647 beds organized in semi-suites. Shared community amenities include social lounges, group study rooms, a fitness center, communal kitchen, and an indoor bike room. A large, ground floor multi-purpose room supports student organizations, Greek chapters, and other campus programming. Two faculty-inresidence apartments provide residents the opportunity for enhanced academic engagement.
Two large campus-facing courtyards provide two distinct outdoor programs: one more social with a fire pit and ample lounge seating and one designed as a quiet, contemplative space. The siting and massing of the building were developed to optimize solar orientation and mitigate heat gain, as well as maximizing opportunities for daylighting within the building. Irvington House is LEED Gold.
Francis Hall
Loyola
University Chicago
Client: Loyola University Chicago
Location: Chicago, IL
Size: 133,000 SF
SCB continues its long partnership with Loyola University with the completion of Francis Hall, a new undergraduate residence hall located within the campus’ south residential district. The seven-story brick building is set back from Winthrop Avenue and features a curved glass façade that embraces a new plaza and public green space.
The ground floor is separated into three distinct program zones; a café and lounge space open to all Loyola students; a new suite for the University’s Honors College, which includes faculty offices and a seminar room; and a large community kitchen, lounge, and multipurpose room for residents located beyond the main desk and secure point of entry for the residence hall. Floor-to-ceiling glass throughout the ground floor visually connects the indoors to the outdoors, while a large vertical operable glass door opens to seamlessly connect the two spaces and allow fresh air to flood the space in warmer months.
The 133,000-square-foot, 406-bed residence hall is comprised of doubleoccupancy, semi-suite units. Elevators open directly into each floor’s bright and daylit central shared social lounge and kitchen located in the glass curvature of the building. Placing these “living rooms” at the building’s most trafficked circulation point helps to build community amongst student residents. Quieter study-focused lounges are located at the northeast corner of each floor, providing views toward the academic core of campus and Lake Michigan. Francis Hall is LEED Gold.
Francis Hall
Loyola University Chicago
Manzanita Hall Renovation
Arizona State University
Client: American Campus Communities, Arizona State University
Location: Tempe, AZ 211,000 SF
Originally designed in 1967, the 15-story Manzanita Hall was the tallest building in Arizona when it opened. With its unique geometric exterior design the dormitory became an immediate icon on the Arizona State campus. However, after over 40 years of housing more than 40,000 students, the residence hall was in poor condition and no longer served students’ needs. ASU hired SCB to conduct a feasibility study to explore renovation or replacement strategies for the 810bed residence hall. The study revealed that replacement would be a far easier undertaking; however, the University ultimately decided to renovate the building due to its iconic character and the importance of its place in the memories of alumni. ASU retained SCB and Studio Ma to work with American Campus Communities to complete a full renovation of Manzanita Hall.
The new exterior enclosure system was designed to work with the existing structural bracing system expressed on the exterior of the building. By eliminating the existing infill windows and wall panels and setting the new exterior wall behind the structural braces, the design team visually accented the iconic braces, giving the building a more crisp graphic character. This solution also allowed for the new enclosure to run uninterrupted behind the braces and consequently perform at a higher thermal efficiency.
The renovation sought to improve physical and social connections, increase natural light into the building, and integrate technologies for today’s increasingly connected students. The design team found an opportunity to add two-story communal lounges and kitchens within new “found space” by extending the original northwest exterior wall to the L-shaped shear walls and adding floor-to-ceiling glass. The original exterior bracing is now part of the interior, demarcating each lounge’s mezzanine.
Working within the constraints of the existing building, the design team reconfigured the floor plans to accommodate a more efficient layout, consisting of suites of two double-occupancy rooms with a shared bathroom. Significant physical surveying and space planning ensured that the new floor layouts for suites and bathrooms did not interfere with the building’s existing structural elements. The planning of the new plumbing chases faced challenges due to existing post-tension slabs and interior shear walls, which could not be eliminated or encroached upon.
The decision to reuse the building established the University’s commitment to sustainability, which became a priority for the project. The project has achieved LEED Silver.
AWARDS: SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture for Restoration or Preservation - Honor Award
AIA Arizona Distinguished Building Honor Award
Student Housing Business Innovator Award, On-Campus: Best Renovation of Existing Dorm
“THIS WAS A FOREBODING TECHNICAL REDEVELOPMENT OF A STRUCTURE THAT PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEMOLISHED. EVERYONE ON THE PLANNING TEAM WAS PETRIFIED OF THE RISKS AND UNFORESEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE BUILDING.
THE SCB TEAM WAS CREATIVE, PIONEERING AND THOROUGH, AND LED AN AMAZING PROJECT TEAM. THE PROJECT WAS DELIVERED ON TIME, UNDER BUDGET AND 100 PERCENT LEASED.”
JASON WILLS American Campus
Communities
Craftsman Student Housing
Cal Poly Humboldt
Client: Cal Poly Humboldt
Location: Arcata, CA
Size: 306,000 SF, 1000 beds
Cal Poly Humboldt is experiencing a rebirth and rebranding as the third polytechnic university in the California State University (CSU) system. Currently undergoing an associated campus master plan, the University fast-tracked an upper division undergraduate apartment project to meet its immediate demand for housing. Originally envisioned as an 800-bed community, an initial site study by SCB identified an opportunity to increase the capacity by 25% to 1,000+ beds. The University was able to secure additional funding from the state to support the larger project, helping to ensure its affordability. Utilizing a collaborative design/build delivery method, the project is SCB’s fourth student housing project to utilize this costeffective delivery method and its third in partnership with Sundt Construction.
The new student residential community is composed of two buildings framing a central “mews,” bookended by a campus shuttle arrival to the north and a café/ convenience store to the south. Located along the mews to create an identity for the community are the building’s residential lobbies and student amenities, including a fitness center, social recreation, multipurpose rooms, and a central laundry. Two additional landscaped courtyards provide a quiet garden and an event lawn for student use.
Between the fifth and seventh stories, the buildings’ massing steps from west to east, mimicking adjacent topography. The character of the buildings is expressed as a carefully choreographed play between light and dark, and static and dynamic fenestration. Bold, angular canopies both highlight and shelter the amenity spaces along the mews, while vertical stacks of glazed study lounges punctuate the facade. The design takes inspiration from the natural environment and history of the area, recalling the rugged coastline, compressed verticality of the redwoods, and dramatic filtering of light through the marine layer.
In accordance with the CSU system’s sustainability goals, the project is fully electric as well as LEED Gold equivalent. Building wings frame courtyards open to the south, providing ample access to daylight while sheltering prevailing winds, and by virtue of the North Coast climate, the facility does not employ air conditioning, rather providing natural ventilation and heating systems only. Responding to current market and labor conditions, the buildings will utilize a prefabricated cladding system, which will arrive to the site fully glazed and insulated for streamlined installation.
