Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

University of Maryland Opens New Residence Hall

  • By Matt Jones
  • 09/01/21

The University of Maryland in College Park, Md., has a new dorm on campus. Pyon-Chen Hall opened its doors in time for the fall semester to about 450 University Honors living-learning program students, as well as others. The 131,000-square-foot facility stands six stories and features single and double rooms.

According to the university website, the dorm is named after two trailblazing Asian-American students from the university’s past. Pyon Su was the first Korean student to earn a degree from a U.S. college or university, while Chunjen Constant Chen was the first Chinese student enrolled at the Maryland Agricultural College (UMD’s former name). The dorm is the first to open in the school’s new Heritage Community. A second dorm, Johnson-Whittle Hall, is set to open in 2022, and the community will also feature a new 70,000-square-foot dining hall.

Amenities include air conditioning; a central lounge space; private study rooms; private, unisex bathrooms; a multipurpose room; a 24-hour laundry facility; and a building kitchen. Each bedroom comes equipped with data jacks for telephone and computer use.

The Heritage Community project broke ground in summer 2019 and will span 15 years of both new dorm construction and the renovation of older dorms on campus.

“As we build new residence halls, we’re always looking to hear from students, to hear what they most need,” said Tracy Kiras, Resident Life assistant director for communications and marketing.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • GeoCam and UCLA: Modernizing Campus Accessibility Mapping

    In early 2025, UCLA partnered with GeoCam to capture and modernize its pedestrian infrastructure data. The goal was ambitious but clear: to produce a high-accuracy, imagery-backed digital map of every sidewalk, pathway, ramp, and ADA-related feature on UCLA’s 419-acre campus.

  • Girl Sitting at Library Desk, Using Laptop

    How Campus Design Shapes the Finals Week Experience

    Academic performance is not just about preparation. It is closely tied to how students manage stress, maintain their energy, and shift between work and recovery modes. Much of that is influenced, directly or indirectly, by design.

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.