Village Residence Hall, Brandeis University
Waltham, Mass.
Kyu Sung Woo Architects

It takes three dorms to make a residential village

© Roland Halbe

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Brandeis University requested that its new 220-bed residence hall create a unique sense of community for the residents and, reflecting the prominence of the site as a boundary, create a gateway to the campus. Kyu Sung Woo Architects grouped the bedrooms into three buildings of approximately 73 beds apiece to create small-scale residential communities. These building are connected into a single composition with links that provide ample natural light and views of the campus.

The architect organized the building around three distinct courtyards and corresponding interior common spaces. The courtyards, each with its own orientation and topographic elevation, connect the building to a major campus circulation path and to the sloping campus topography. This pedestrian spine links a commuter rail stop to the center of the campus. It also preserves the hilly topography and rocky outcroppings that are characteristic of the Brandeis campus.

Interior circulation focuses on residentially scaled stairs that link the floors of each building, as well as a ground-level series of common rooms, including a multipurpose room, quiet lounge, seminar room, and active lounge. The upper floors of each building feature more common areas as well as kitchens, intimate study nooks, and double-height living rooms to offer residents a variety of spaces for socializing. These spaces become the focus for communities at a variety of scales; boundaries between the residential areas of each floor are purposely left unmarked to encourage flexible social groupings.

In defining the majority of building volumes, the architect selected a brick color common throughout the campus. Lead-coated copper panels highlight exterior campus-scaled public spaces. Windows with fixed clear and translucent operable panels signify individual bedrooms while larger glazing indicates the general use spaces within the volumes. The interior public spaces continue this distinctiveness with wood end grain flooring in the corridors. Cherry wood paneling marks the stairs and vertical circulation, reinforced with distinctly colored stair and service cores that provide additional orientation and define the three communities of the Village Residence Halls.

Formal name of Project:
Village Residence Hall, Brandeis University

Location:
Waltham, Mass.

Gross square footage:
70,000 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$16 Million

Owner:
Brandeis University www.brandeis.edu

Architect:
Kyu Sung Woo Architects
488 Green Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-547 0128 tel.
617-547-9675 fax
www.kswa.com