Facility Focus: Student Housing

University of Wisconsin–Whitewater Residence Hall

• 03/01/20

Architectural firm EUA worked with the state of Wisconsin and University of Wisconsin–Whitewater to design a residence hall for first-year students. The university’s Centers for Students with Disabilities played an integral role in the design phase to ensure the building was universally designed and accessible.

Universal design is an integral part of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s culture. EUA’s in-house accessibility expert worked closely with campus representatives to provide an accessible environment that goes beyond code minimums to create integrated, inclusive spaces for students of all abilities. Enhanced accessible rooms allow for people that have additional disabilities to have a caretaker live in with them so that they can still live in an environment with other students.

The five-story, 400-student residence hall consists of housing areas arranged in pods. The pod arrangement contains two double-occupant bedrooms and a bathroom accessed from a shared entry space. This provides students with an option for more privacy than the other traditional dorms on campus that have centralized multi-occupant bathrooms.

Each floor also has a communal kitchenette with refrigerator and microwave. Upper floors include centralized lounge spaces that support the formation of community. The first floor includes a computer lab, study and multipurpose rooms, a full kitchen and laundry room, along with a front desk and lobby area. These common areas encourage students to get out of their rooms, help with social development and connect with other students.

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of Spaces4Learning.