Southern New Hampshire University: Monadnock Hall

Southern New Hampshire University

PHOTOS © ANTON GRASSL

Monadnock Hall opened on the Southern New Hampshire University campus in Fall 2017, nestled in the woods of Manchester, NH. Monadnock is a new residence hall designed in partnership with Lavallee Brensinger Architects, Mackey Mitchell Architects, and Whiting-Turner Construction.

The hall is 97,025 gross square feet and is designed to house 300 students in two- and four-bedroom apartment-style units. Monadnock Hall also includes ASD sensitive rooms that were suggested by the design team to address that growing population of students with autistic needs on campus, complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Monadnock was built as part of an effort to replace outdated residence halls with living spaces that are focused around the students, encouraging social interaction. The building centers around an area of common spaces that include a fitness area, game room, and other common spaces such as public and private study spaces and laundry facilities on each floor. Each of the apartments, some with two double rooms and others with four single rooms, includes a private bathroom with a separate shower stall, an open-concept kitchen, and living and dining rooms.

Some of the materials used in building Monadnock include natural New England fieldstone and variegated color metal panels. The building shape is such that it allows the facility to sit lightly on the land and save considerable costs by avoiding extensive excavation and ledge removal. The building also touts energy sustainability with a solar system that provides 50-75 percent of the hall’s electricity needs.

Monadnock Hall is part of a plan to grow the university and engage students by focusing on its physical campus. Other campus additions include a new welcome center, an athletic stadium, a library, and another residence hall that is currently under construction.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management January 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Tennessee Middle School Completes Health, Life Safety Renovations

    The Giles County Board of Education in Pulaski, Tenn., recently announced that a series of renovation projects has been completed at Bridgeforth Middle School, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects & Engineers and Brindley Construction to modernize building systems at one of the district’s oldest schools.

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • abstract illustration of school gym

    How the Gymnasium Can Serve as a Model for Learning Space Design

    Multipurpose gyms work because flexibility was built into the brief from the start, not retrofitted later. The same logic applies to academic spaces.

  • Ohio State University Opens 26-Story Hospital

    The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center recently opened in Columbus, Ohio, standing 26 stories and covering 1.9 million square feet, according to a university news release. The project marks ten years of effort and is the university’s largest single-facility construction project ever.