Leveraging On-Campus Real Estate Into Its Highest And Best Use

The University Center Complex at Stevens Institute of Technology recently joined our Commons at Marquette and The Living and Learning Community at Rutgers Livingston campus in a unique distinction. A national award winner for “Best On-Campus Architecture“ for the Interface Student Housing Design Awards Program.

Interface is the go-to organization that brings together student housing developers and university stake holders to develop complex public-private projects. Interestingly these three projects share a common thread in their approach to real estate, program development, density, and campus integration. They all embrace high-density, mixed-use development to get the most value and highest impact despite a limited amount of real estate to work with. Through careful design consideration and various site explorations, they have met their respective housing needs while also transforming their campus into thriving, active living and learning communities. 

Exterior Perspective Looking West Towards Hoboken

University Center Complex: A Case Study

This new student housing and university center project at Stevens represents a significant step in the modernization of the university’s housing options as well as the introduction of a vibrant campus core that serves both students and faculty. The project reduces the university’s dependence on the surrounding neighborhoods for student housing while supporting the goals for increased undergraduate and 
graduate student enrollment. 

Prior to the construction of the new student housing towers and university center, Stevens Institute was paying market rate rents for housing in Hoboken for most of the first-year class since the university guarantees housing yet lacked on-campus options that would contribute to annual growth of enrollment. 

Due to the geographical constraints of the urban campus, the design team worked with the university and city officials to rezone a portion of Hoboken to allow for taller buildings in the immediate proximity of the proposed site. This provided long-term savings for the university and consolidation of students to be housed on-campus which was a desire of both city and university. 

Prelim. Massing, Site 1	Prelim. Massing, Site 2	Prelim. Massing, Site 3

Site Selection: The Importance of an Open Mind

Initial studies for this new on-campus development were directed by the university towards low-rise to mid-rise housing on three different sites throughout the campus. Like many urban universities, Stevens was looking to place the housing on sites that did not offend nearby neighbors, disrupt the many spectacular views from the campus, and were close to the academic core. However, the sites were all remote from each other and did not allow for an impactful response. Furthermore, two of the sites were blocking the views for what would become a much-needed new student center in the future. Essentially these disparate sites would have forced awkward and inefficient footprints and massing solutions because of tight and irregular geometries.

After several options were developed and presented to the school, our development team of Capstone Development Partners and Design Collective presented a novel idea. 

Instead of trying to force these sites to work and stay out of the way of future view corridors, why not place the housing on top of the new student center right at the edge of the Hudson River on the site with amazing, unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline?

Rezoning, Programming, and Vision 

Stevens really took to this idea and had us to explore a scheme that did just that by placing two residential towers on top of a three-story student center nestled into the hillside site on the Hudson River. To gain approval from the city of Hoboken for this direction, the university worked with city officials on a rezoning plan for the entire campus that included provisions for a building height of 222 feet tall on this site. The height was determined by working backwards from the preferred final program that had been developed over the past year for approximately 1,000 beds and 75,000 SF student center.

The final program for the student center and residential amenities was determined by assessing which elements were the most needed by the campus and what amenities peer institutions were providing for their students. The design team arranged tours with the key stakeholders to visit these peer institutional facilities to decide which elements they believed would have the biggest impact for their student population. A final program was arrived at that included student and faculty lounges, a new fitness center and conference area, a new food and dining venue, a cafe/convenience store, new student organization spaces, and a large ballroom for over 600 people. Also planned was a large outdoor plaza to be built over the ballroom as a green roof and terrace.

Student Amenity Spaces Connect The Towers Via Two-Story Sky Bridge

A Vertical Village 

As mentioned, the final form of the building is organized into two towers above a 
podium. The north tower is designed with 18 levels of student housing while the south tower contains 16.

Connecting these towers is a two-story sky bridge which houses most of the large amenity spaces for the residents. These amenities include spaces to meet, socialize, lounge, and relax in a “vertical village“ that floats across the courtyard lawn and connects the two communities. 

The eastern edges of the towers end in glassy, angular student lounges that accentuate the outward views and serve as vertical beacons that announce the university’s presence along the Hoboken Skyline.

Visual connections from the campus core are framed by the two housing towers and connecting sky lounge from the heart of campus towards lower Manhattan. The building’s orientation limits view obstructions along the campus’ quad and pedestrian thoroughfare and allow the campus green to spill into the central courtyard between the two housing towers, creating an active zone for student interaction.

The three-story university center at the base of the towers nestles into the ninety-foot high bluff above the Hudson River and connects the residential towers at their base. The western side of the university center is detailed with a traditional aesthetic that is derived from the historic red brick campus vernacular, while the eastern edge of the building is expressed with contemporary glass volumes to maximize views from the interior and provide abundant natural lighting. The ground level building form and courtyard location is driven in large part by pedestrian connections and programmatic circulation, but also by the design team’s desire to preserve the three-hundred year old elm trees that line the primary circulation spine on campus. This complex preservation effort also gave the new building an intrinsic sense of permanence from day one, with mature landscaping and campus greenery weaving throughout the pathways and forms.

With this single project, Stevens has doubled its capacity to house students on campus. The vertical integration of uses has preserved a significant amount of real estate throughout the campus. The rich mix of programmatic elements has allowed students to live and learn in a wide variety of habitats near the academic core with unparalleled views of Manhattan and the Hudson River.

Outdoor Plaza Between Residential Towers With Two-Story Sky Bridge