Honors Academic Village
The Honors Academic Village is a new living/learning community designed to meet students’ social needs while fostering academic success. Developed by American Campus Communities, the new four-story residence hall provides 492 beds, helping to advance the University of Toledo’s strategic goal to modernize its housing portfolio and support the recruitment and retention of its brightest students.
Stats
142,000 SF
492 Beds
The University entrusted the SCB team with a site located adjacent to the historic campus core and challenged the firm to design a building that would respect the existing campus context while providing a modern and comfortable residence for students. The siting of the building was developed in relation to the neighboring historic residential colleges. The design team saw an opportunity to create a village green to be shared by all residents in the area by splitting the building into two wings linked by a central circulation core and opening it up to its historic neighbors. The village green is surrounded by the residence hall’s active and transparent ground floor, featuring a learning commons, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and lounges for recreation and socialization. Sixthriver Architects provided interior design services for the residence hall.
The building is organized into a series of neighborhoods and offers an array of one to four bedroom units in various sizes and layouts. A social lounge with a fireplace and private study lounges are located at the core of each neighborhood. By breaking down the larger building into smaller neighborhoods, the design of the residence hall encourages interaction between residents and fosters a sense of community.
The design team further encouraged community-building by placing gathering spaces along the main circulation route, promoting student usage of these spaces by making them visible and easily accessible.