Unity College: Unity 3

Unity College: Unity 3

PHOTOS © JOHN MCKEITH / UNITY COLLEGE

Designed and built exclusively for first-year students, Unity 3 opened for Fall Semester 2016 at Unity College in Unity, ME, in August. The residence hall represents the latest in $20 million invested since 2012 in new campus infrastructure focused on student success at America’s Environmental College.

In order to help differentiate the “hightouch” residential experience at Unity College, Unity 3 has capacity for two resident advisors and a resident director in addition to 74 students. In the spirit of inclusivity and personal choice, all bathrooms and showers are private and genderneutral. The two-story, 18,200-square-foot residence hall offers dedicated areas for students who wish to study outside their rooms in a quiet setting, in support of Unity’s commitment to student success.

Appropriate to America’s Environmental College, Unity 3 features state-of-the-art energy-efficient features, such as air-source heat pumps with energy recovery, passive solar design and high-efficiency insulation and lighting, as with the two other campus residence halls built since 2013.

Unity 3 was built to support the first-year experience for incoming Unity College students, and to accommodate record enrollment at the school. Unity College welcomed 705 students this 2016-17 academic year, shattering its previous enrollment record of 638 students set in Fall 2015 — a 10.5 percent year-over-year increase.

“At this time of increasing interest in sustainability science, we feel we need to make a strong commitment to support those students who have chosen America’s Environmental College to launch their careers in high-growth green industries,” Unity College President Dr. Melik Peter Khoury says. “That means supplying state-of-the-industry housing and academic spaces that support learning, community and sustainability. Unity 3 is only our latest commitment in fulfilling that mission.”

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Colorado School District Breaks Ground on Unified PK–12 Campus

    The Haxtun School District No. Re-2J in Haxtun, Colo., recently announced that ground has been broken on a renovation/addition project that will unite its two schools, Haxtun Elementary and Haxtun Jr/Sr High School, according to a news release.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • Texas Recruitment

    Texas Recruitment

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Recruitment has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.