On Saturday, Sept. 17, the University of Chicago will open its three-building, 394,000-sf Campus North Residential Commons that the college and its AEC partners are hoping can serve as a “front door” to the college.
The $150 million Commons, designed by Studio Gang Architects and built by Mortenson Construction, is situated on 195,480 sf at the north edge of campus. Its towers range from five to 15 stories tall, peaking at 164 feet. The towers have a total of 800 student beds within 252 single rooms and 193 double rooms that are organized into eight three-level “houses,” named after prominent members of the university’s community, including Dean John W. Boyer, who has led the college for the past 24 years.
“We designed an architecture that really feels like home for the students, but that simultaneously opens to and engages with the community,” Jeanne Gang, founding principal of Studio Gang Architects, told UChicagoNews.
The towers are connected by a second-floor common space. There are five music practices rooms and eight pianos; and two classrooms for campus-wide use. There is 23,603 sf of resident-only landscaped courtyards located above ground level. And a 48,791-sf green roof is set up to retain rainwater on site (the building is shooting for LEED Gold certification).
The top floor includes a multipurpose room, 14 group study spaces, and a 24-hour reading room. The first-floor area offers 12,000 sf of retail space for vendors Heritage Bicycles, Insomnia Cookies, TimBuk2 (which sells backpacks and messenger bags), and Dollop Coffee Co., whose shop is at the center of the building.
Other amenities include 118,150 sf of landscaped quadrangle, streetscape, and plaza. The university worked with the city to turn one street, Greenwood Avenue, into a pedestrian landscape connection linking the street on which the Commons sits with several athletic and arts centers on campus.
The 450-seat Frank and Laura Baker Dining Commons within the residential hall is organized so that students sit at tables whose names correspond to their residence “houses.” Image: Steve Hall ©Hedrick Blessing.
Within the Commons is the 28,000-sf Frank and Laura Baker Dining Commons, named after an alumnus, Frank Baker, who last year made a $7 million gift to the university to endow undergraduate scholarships and internships for lower-income students of outstanding promise. The dining room’s 450 seats are along tables designated for each of the Commons’ houses.
The building’s design lets in maximum natural light and fresh air into interior spaces. Each student’s residence comes equipped with automated controls to account for variable sun exposure as part of maintaining comfort.
The building’s external envelope consists of 1,034 white precast concrete panels (made from 110 different molds) hung on an aluminum curtain wall. And this building includes the first major application of a two-way radiant slab heating and cooling system in the Chicago region.
The other Building Team members on this design-build project were Magnussen Klemencic Associates (SE), dbHMS (MEP/fire protection engineer), David Mason & Associates (CE), Hanbury (associate architect), Hood Design Studio (landscape concept designer), Terry Guen Landscape Architects (landscape architect), Threshold Acoustics (acoustical designer), Lightswitch Architectural (lighting designer), Jensen Hughes (code consultant), Jenkins & Huntington (elevator consultant), and Transsolar (sustainability consultant).
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 26, 2023
UC Davis Health opens new eye institute building for eye care, research, and training
UC Davis Health recently marked the opening of the new Ernest E. Tschannen Eye Institute Building and the expansion of the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC). Located in Sacramento, Calif., the Eye Center provides eye care, vision research, and training for specialists and investigators. With the new building, the Eye Center’s vision scientists can increase capacity for clinical trials by 50%.
Sponsored | Cladding and Facade Systems | Mar 15, 2023
Metal cladding trends and innovations
Metal cladding is on a growth trajectory globally. This is reflected in rising demand for rainscreen cladding and architectural metal coatings. This course covers the latest trends and innovations in the metal cladding market.
Education Facilities | Mar 15, 2023
DLR Group’s Campus Planning Studio defines new leadership
Linsey Graff named Campus Planning Leader. Krisan Osterby transitions to Senior Planner.
Student Housing | Mar 13, 2023
University of Oklahoma, Missouri S&T add storm-safe spaces in student housing buildings for tornado protection
More universities are incorporating reinforced rooms in student housing designs to provide an extra layer of protection for students. Storm shelters have been included in recent KWK Architects-designed university projects in the Great Plains where there is a high incidence of tornadoes. Projects include Headington and Dunham Residential Colleges at the University of Oklahoma and the University Commons residential complex at Missouri S&T.
University Buildings | Feb 23, 2023
Johns Hopkins shares design for new medical campus building named in honor of Henrietta Lacks
In November, Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine shared the initial design plans for a campus building project named in honor of Henrietta Lacks, the Baltimore County woman whose cells have advanced medicine around the world. Diagnosed with cervical cancer, Lacks, an African-American mother of five, sought treatment at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the early 1950s. Named HeLa cells, the cell line that began with Lacks has contributed to numerous medical breakthroughs.
K-12 Schools | Feb 18, 2023
Atlanta suburb opens $85 million serpentine-shaped high school designed by Perkins&Will
In Ellenwood, Ga., a southeast suburb of Atlanta, Perkins and Will has partnered with Clayton County Public Schools and MEJA Construction to create a $85 million secondary school. Morrow High School, which opened in fall 2022, serves more than 2,200 students in Clayton County, a community with students from over 30 countries.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 16, 2023
Coastal Construction Group establishes an attainable multifamily housing division
Coastal Construction Group, one of the largest privately held construction companies in the Southeast, has announced a new division within their multifamily sector that will focus on the need for attainable housing in South Florida.
Sustainability | Feb 9, 2023
University of Southern California's sustainability guidelines emphasize embodied carbon
A Buro Happold-led team recently completed work on the USC Sustainable Design & Construction Guidelines for the University of Southern California. The document sets out sustainable strategies for the design and construction of new buildings, renovations, and asset renewal projects.
Giants 400 | Feb 9, 2023
New Giants 400 download: Get the complete at-a-glance 2022 Giants 400 rankings in Excel
See how your architecture, engineering, or construction firm stacks up against the nation's AEC Giants. For more than 45 years, the editors of Building Design+Construction have surveyed the largest AEC firms in the U.S./Canada to create the annual Giants 400 report. This year, a record 519 firms participated in the Giants 400 report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
University Buildings | Feb 8, 2023
STEM-focused Kettering University opens Stantec-designed Learning Commons
In Flint, Mich., Kettering University opened its new $63 million Learning Commons, designed by Stantec. The new facility will support collaboration, ideation, and digital technology for the STEM-focused higher learning institution.
