The well-being of college students can be impacted by aspects of the physical environment, especially during key life transitions such as beginning college during a pandemic. This repeated cross-sectional study investigates the influence of a newly constructed living-learning neighborhood on first-year residents' mental well-being, specifically…

Students' sense of community is at the heart of their college success and can be impacted by many factors, including staff, programming, and hall design, as well as demographic variables such as age, ethnicity, and gender. The purpose of this study is to investigate how gender and student housing type at a faith-based institution influence sense…

Construction and new facility decisions regarding student housing remain difficult for many colleges and universities. Challenges associated with these decisions include rising building costs, waning government funding, daunting facility safety codes, and compliance with evolving accessibility legislation, among many factors. One solution,…

Intentionally temporary housing environments, like student housing, where residents know they will settle for a short period may lack the social and physical factors that inspire a sense of home and community. Yet, these environments compete with traditional housing options to retain residents and therefore, universities want to create housing…

For colleges eager to attract the best students, the quality of student housing is a key selling point. That shouldn't mean putting a Jacuzzi in every dorm, warns Susan Painter, a design psychologist. Painter, who holds a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, uses her knowledge of human behavior to advise colleges on building design. Give students too…

Describes the Western Ridge Residence at Colorado College and Beard Hall at Wheaton College. The buildings feature multiple levels that take advantage of views and also help create a "homey" feeling. (EV)

At a small, old New England college, a large, new dormitory respects living patterns that have been established on campus for almost 200 years. (Author)

A dormitory complex is designed to promote social interaction and, at the same time, provide privacy for students and the activities requiring privacy. (Author)

Describes the design of Simmons Hall, an undergraduate dormitory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, including the educational context and design goals. Includes information on the architects, as well as floor plans and photographs. (EV)

Although the seven buildings of Harvard's Canaday Hall dormitories are neither programmatically, technically, nor functionally innovative, they are a thoughtful solution to extremely restrictive circumstances imposed by the client and the site. The exterior design was carefully selected to blend inconspicuously with the neighboring 18th- and…

The combination of a prefabricated building system and a clustered terrace design has resulted in economical and aesthetically pleasing housing for students at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. (Author)

Describes the award-winning title building, including its educational context and design goals. Includes building plans, photographs, and reviewer comments. (EV)

Describes an award-winning design of a new residence hall at the University of Toronto's St. George campus. The new residence's plan, designed by Saucier and Perrotte Architectes, emphasizes a spirit of communal interaction. Includes design drawings and schematics. (EV)

To hold down construction costs of student housing, Brockport College decided on a fixed-cost competition, in which architects had to team up with contractors. The winning firm used a French industrialized building system and exterior panels of weathered steel to construct a village of 27 four-story buildings. (JG)