SBI

This student housing complex is a five story, wood framed structure of approximately 91,630 gross square feet. On-site covered parking was a programmatic requirement. 145 bedrooms are provided within 60 dwelling units, the maximum permissible. A combination of two and three bedroom units were required.

Competing alongside similar, recently constructed housing developments, the goal became simply: “Could the precision required for a legitimate work of architecture be achieved at the price point required for this building type?” Our firm took this commission on as a challenge to determine this. Lease rates were capped, market driven and the pro-forma indicated that the building needed to be constructed for $110 per square foot or less. Programming efforts steered the project towards a solution representing a stylistic balance between institutional and residential design sensibilities. It became clear that the design should provide both a sense of institutional communality, along with the specificities often expected and inherent in residential apartment typologies.

Fiber cement siding, face brick and CIP concrete are the principal exterior materials. Roofing consists of a combination of single ply membranes and fiberglass shingles. Operable windows provide abundant light and ventilation into the individual units. Natural light was introduced into the circulation corridors, wherever feasible, and the corridors were configured in a manner that reinforced their “interstitial quality”. Rather than simply a means to get from point A to point B, the intent was to give as much spatial variety and animation to the circulation experience as possible. The east wing of the building was inflected five degrees to visually foreshorten the distance of this lengthy corridor. From a strictly formal standpoint, the intent was to provide a more “animated” and figural treatment to those building facades capped with a sloped roof system. The remaining elevations are understated and treated with restraint.