Westfield State University: University Hall

  • 10/01/14
Westfield State University: University Hall

PHOTOS © ROBERT BENSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Architecture and design firm ADD Inc recently completed the renovation of Westfield State University’s new student residence, University Hall, in Westfield, MA. The construction of University Hall totals 139,000 square feet and adds 411 beds to the campus. The architecture and interior design of the building directly responds to how today’s students live and learn.

“Students today require more collaborative and interactive learning environments, in and out of the classroom,” states B.K. Boley, principal at ADD Inc. “We felt we had to go beyond enhancing the school’s facilities and services by designing ‘memorable’ spaces that truly enrich a student’s college experience and strengthen academic life.”

University Hall features one-, four- and six-bedroom suites, including singles and doubles, each with a shared suite bath, living room and kitchenette.

The surrounding woods and mountains inspired the architecture and interior design of the new building. Designed around the concept of a student’s journey of “walking through the woods toward the light,” ADD Inc created a building shaped like “two trees fallen in the forest” with a large arch that leads from a wooded overlook of Tekoa Mountain back to the campus quad.

Inside, student rooms and corridors extend like branches out to study perches in the tree canopy. Ground floor common areas and meeting rooms feel like the forest floor with wooded ceilings and colorful furnishings that evoke “wildflowers.”

Following this theme, the building’s exterior consists of highly textured red and black brick that resembles bark, while the inside communal courtyard is composed of wood-tone panels. The building’s Grand Arch is an all-glass, floor-to-ceiling five-story archway with open spaces for student lounging and studying.

ADD Inc’s primary objective was to provide diverse units with a variety of common space options that range from a large multipurpose room for university functions to common lounges and kitchens for socializing to intimate light-filled “perch” lounges that are ideal for quiet study and that showcase views of the surrounding woods.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Fort Collins to Convert 1980s Office Park into Junior High School

    The Liberty Common School, a charter-public school in Fort Collins, Colo., recently broke ground on an adaptive reuse project that will convert an 1980s-era office park into a 45,000-square-foot junior high school for seventh- and eighth-grade students, according to a news release.

  • Exhale Fans Launches New Generation of Bladeless Ceiling Fan

    Exhale Fans recently announced the launch of Gen. 5 of its flagship HVAC delivery product, the world’s only bladeless ceiling fan, according to a news release. The fan provides users with a 10% savings on HVAC energy costs and requires no renovations to current systems to install.

  • MiEN Releases White Paper on Community College Space Innovation

    MiEN Company recently released a new white paper called “Designing New Innovative Spaces for Community Colleges” to address the needs of community colleges post-pandemic, according to a news release. The eight-page guide by Dr. Christina Counts, MiEN Company VP of Education and Marketing, covers topics like the enrollment drop that these schools have seen since COVID-19, the roles they play in higher education and local workforces, and five suggested key changes that can improve students’ experiences.

  • Carnegie Grants R2 Status to East Texas A&M

    East Texas A&M University in Commerce, Texas, recently announced that it has been designated a Research 2 (R2) institution by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, according to a news release. The R2 designation took effect on February 13.