The South Campus Residence Hall shapes a new housing and dining experience for students at the center of campus. The seven-story building provides 657 beds with a variety of unit types, a 500-seat dining hall, and ample amenity spaces. With its clever siting and composition in relation to existing halls, it creates new outdoor spaces for recreation and relaxation and a new hub for student life.

An Integrated Site

The residence hall introduces two new gateways to a now-complete residential district, filling in a previously undefined and unoccupied open space adjacent to existing residence halls. One gateway sits along the prominent campus entry drive on Mansfield Road, and another along the major campus pedestrian walk, Academic Way. Set back from a cluster of heritage trees and adjacent to Mirror Lake, the new building is configured to establish two key outdoor spaces: a new green space shared with the existing residence halls for passive recreation; and a more social quadrangle for gathering at the dining hall, which is open to all students.  

The building has two prominent entries. The first is associated with the entry to the dining hall, social quadrangle, and a cross campus “shortcut” for district residents. This entry leads students into the dining hall featuring a wide range of food options, as well as stunning views to Mirror Lake and the surrounding landscape. The second entry takes residents to the heart of the building, where they are met with the reception area, placed at the junction between staff and resident common spaces. 

Programmed for Student Ownership and Belonging

The project is designed to recognize diverse living styles, from students who thrive in larger social groups to those who desire a more focused experience. Spread across the building floors are varied dorm room types. The semi suite-style dorm rooms are designed in two configurations: one to house four students with two in each bedroom with a shared bathroom; another as a double room, also with a shared bathroom. Additional room styles include single semi suites and full suites, which have their own shared common room and bathroom. Careful consideration was given to accessibility across all unit types to support inclusion and sense of belonging for all students.

Beyond student and staff residences, the building accommodates additional spaces like seminar and multipurpose common rooms, a building living room, a bike room, a game room, gender neutral restrooms on every floor, and multiple floor lounges and flexible study rooms for residents and the greater UConn community. At the ground floor, the shared public spaces have direct access to the courtyards, again providing connection to the campus and creating social spaces with daylight, transparency, and a sense of openness and accessibility for all.

Flexible and Functional Dining

The dining hall’s massing and transparent glass curtain walls make it a new landmark along the existing primary entry drive, acting as a beacon that reinforces campus circulation paths and view sheds.  Internally, the dining hall’s scale and orientation corresponds to the furniture distribution including standard tables, high tops, and custom designed banquettes. The furniture was selected for flexibility, supporting a variety of social configurations and opportunities for community that are offered with shared dining. 

In addition to the main dining areas, five smaller stations, each with a custom tiled front, give students menu choices to accommodate all dietary restrictions and preferences. The position of the dining hall was designed within the site to provide easy vehicle access to the service dock, allowing for the smooth kitchen facility operation including deliveries and waste removal.

Identity and Connection through Landscape

The landscape for the South Campus Residence and Dining Hall establishes its own identity by mediating the surrounding landscapes and focusing on two courtyards. The first courtyard is shared with the adjacent residence hall and provides passive recreation via walkways animated with small terraces and granite benches. The area integrates with the building, providing green space adjacent to interior social spaces, as well as a planting buffer to the professional staff offices.

The second courtyard is designed as a social quadrangle and features terraces accessible via the residential living room and dining hall. In addition to granite benches, flexible seating and tables are provided for an array of social gathering. Along Gilbert Road, the new landscape forms a well-defined streetscape utilizing campus standard lighting, signage, and materials while offering a new connection for the campus shuttle and prominent pedestrian entry. To the west of the building, the landscape continues the material and visual alignment of Academic Way, providing a seamless connection to the established campus walk.

Native plants are used to support a diverse ecosystem, minimize irrigation requirements, and align with the established landscape design guidelines. In addition, extensive tree protection requirements were defined during design documentation to ensure the health of heritage trees during construction. Rain gardens and pedestrian plazas were created along the street to discreetly address topographical change and stormwater management. These landscape amenities enhance existing campus open spaces while managing most of the stormwater quality and quantity on site. 

The building is tied to a new campus geothermal field and is on target to achieve LEED Gold certification once complete, with anticipated major completion in October of 2024.