Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Rutgers University: Sojourner Truth Apartments at The Yard

  • 01/01/18
Rutgers University

PHOTOS © BRAD FEINKNOPF

Rutgers University’s new mixed-use residential community, Sojourner Truth Apartments at The Yard, is designed to support the university’s developmental goals for each student, providing apartment-style accommodations to foster individual independence and self-awareness in students preparing to transition to life post-college. Designed with unprecedented levels of public access in support of this goal, the residential community has become a new social hub, a shared common ground at the College Avenue campus not only for students, faculty, and affiliates of the university, but also for New Brunswick, NJ, residents.

The project is located just off-campus adjacent to the most historic parts of the Rutgers University College Avenue campus, with over 300 feet of frontage along College Avenue. It is the result of a partnership between Rutgers University and a nonprofit development agency, New Brunswick Development Corporation (Devco), with Elkus Manfredi Architects as architect.

At 14 stories, the project includes 442 beds in 160 two-, three-, and four-person apartments in the upper 13 floors, plus a mixed-use indoor/outdoor ground floor with 8,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, a tech transfer collaborative space, a 1,500-square-foot fitness facility, and open common rooms and administrative offices. The outdoor courtyard (“The Yard”) features a large video screen that draws the community together for movies, sports, concerts, and social gatherings, cultivating diversity and connection among students and the neighborhood. The first-floor common room is publicly accessible throughout the day for students and the surrounding community, with large airplane-hangar doors that open to The Yard in good weather to create a space for all to enjoy.

Certified LEED-NC Silver, the project’s sustainable elements include energy and water efficiency, construction using recycled materials, and operable floor-to-ceiling apartment windows that provide maximum exposure to natural light, natural ventilation, and reduced need for artificial heating/cooling use.

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

Featured

  • Missouri Child Development Center Completes $2.3M Expansion

    The Urban Sprouts Child Development Center in St. Louis, Mo., recently announced the completion of a $2.3-million expansion and adaptive reuse project, according to a news release. The new space includes a retail café, outdoor learning space, and a support office building.

  • Montclair State University Debuts New VR Facility

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently announced the completion of a new virtual reality learning facility developed in partnership with Dreamscape Learn, according to a news release. The 2,450-square-foot lab space is inside the College of Communication and Media building and will serve students pursuing careers in digital media, virtual reality, and content creation.

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Announces Acquisition of JJCA

    Wold Architects & Engineers, based in Minneapolis, Minn., recently announced that it has acquired JJCA, an architecture firm based in Nashville, Tenn., according to a press release. JJCA specializes in healthcare and education design; the partnership allows both firms to expand their presence across the country while building on existing strengths.

  • How Proactive Maintenance Can Transform Athletic Facilities into Strategic Assets for College Sports

    College athletics is entering one of the most transformative periods in its history. With NIL reshaping financial models and competitive expectations, athletic departments across the country are being asked to do more than ever with increasingly constrained resources.