dormitory case studies

DORMITORY/STUDENT RESIDENCE HALLINT 401: Fourth Year Studio Project ISpring 2015

Student Name: Naveen JamalStudent Id: 201110147

Advisor: Miss. Zeineb Naouar

Content • Introduction

• Problem Statement

• Research Methodology

• Program

• History

• International Case Study

1. Tietgen Dormitory, Denmark

2. Simmons Hall Residence at MIT, USA

• Local Case Study

1. Abu Dhabi University Dorm

Introduction • U.A.E’s climate; hot and dust. Therefore, most citizens prefer to

stay indoors or drive to cover distances.

• Only 4 dorms provided to specific universities in Abu Dhabi.

• A dormitory or hall of residence or hostels is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, and college or university students.

Problem Statement• Dormitories result in being depressing and affect a

student’s psychology.

• Why? - Being away from family and making decisions for yourself can put some students in dilemma.

• Some dormitories lack facilities to boost the students positive attitude.

• Student housing/dormitories aren’t available for students in Abu Dhabi for most universities and colleges.

• Depression has been on the rise among college students in the past two decades.

Research Methodology• Referred book: Collaboration in Architecture & Engineering by

Claire Olsen, Sinead Mac Namara.

• Internet; Official websites.

• Interviewed existing and past dormitory students.

• Prepared a questionnaire for students to understand their needs and wants for an ideal dormitory.

Research MethodologySurvey Results• Preferred location of the dorm

• Room preference

• Interior colour preference

Research MethodologySurvey Results• Lighting preference

• Facilities

•

Research MethodologySurvey Results• Preferred Flooring

• Preferred Dinning option

Research MethodologySurvey Results• Need of a student lounge

• Overall mood of the dorm

Program• Reception/Lobby

• Unit (Rooms, kitchen & bathroom)

• Activity room (clubs)/ Lounge

• Library

• Canteen/ Common kitchen

• Gym

History • Traditionally, residence halls were

occupied by male students .

• 1718-1720; Harvard University, also is home to the oldest dormitory in the United States.

• 1940s, more women began applying to universities — and getting accepted.

• Early 20th century, universities began building dormitories specifically for women.

• As dorm rooms began popping up left and right at college dormitories, the buildings were less architecturally elegant and more functional.

Modern Day Dormitories• Today, the college dorm is a completely different design.

Universities want to make sure that students feel comfortable and included, instead of isolated and cold. 

• Dorm rooms contain many luxuries now, making it feel more like a tiny apartment.

International Case Study

Tietgen Dormitory

• Architects: Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects

• Location: Rued Langgaards Vej 10, Copenhagen, Denmark

• Area: 26,515 sqm

Tietgen DormitoryThe Architecture

• The residence hall was created by the practice Lundgaard & Tranberg and in its main concept it is arranged as a circular building in 7 storeys containing all the facilities of the residence hall and encircling one big, planted courtyard in the centre.

• The cylindrical main shape is transacted by 5 vertical lines that visually and functionally divide the building into sections.

• Open passages providing access from the outside to the central courtyard.

Tietgen DormitoryShape

Tietgen DormitoryShape

Tietgen DormitoryShape

Hanging Kitchens

• With a depth of up to 8 meters

• The total 30 kitchens and 30 common areas of the residence hall are hanging in over the inner courtyard.

• The boxes are held up by steel wires that have been buried almost 20 meters down into the underground.

Tietgen DormitorySpaces

• The smallest rooms are 26 square meters and all rooms have a large window section that you can slide open giving you access to either a French window or a proper balcony.

• All the rooms have a grand view through the big window section that can slide open to allow in fresh air.

• 360 “Slices of the Pie”; The total 360 rooms are all facing the outer side of the round structure.

Tietgen DormitorySpaces• As slices of a pie, the rooms are widest at the outer end.

In the drawing above, you can see a one room residence (left) and a double room residence (right). The rooms all have the same shape and width but vary in depth. In the drawings, you can also see the bathrooms with the characteristic round shower.

Tietgen DormitorySpaces

Tietgen DormitorySpaces

• DOUBLE ROOMS FOR COUPLES OR WITH ROOM TO MOVE

• 30 of the Tietgenkollegiet’s residences are double rooms that are well-suited for couples or for students requiring extra space.

• INTERNATIONAL ROOMS

• About 60 of the rooms are dedicated to international students that are on an exchange stay in Copenhagen. While the ordinary rooms are furnished by the residents themselves, the international rooms come furnished.

Tietgen DormitorySpaces• INTEGRATED STORAGE

• In all rooms, one wall is clad with light plywood panels that not only serve a decorative purpose.

• Built into this construction are a number of storage lockers along the ceiling, a closed bookcase in the far end of the room as well as a movable wardrobe that can be used as a room divider.

Tietgen DormitorySpaces• BIG BATHROOMS – BUT NO PRIVATE KITCHENS

• There are no kitchens in the rooms.

• Thus, all cooking takes place in the big communal kitchens.

• On the other hand, the rooms have a spacious en suite with floor heating, toilet, and shower.

Tietgen DormitorySpaces• THE KITCHENS – THE FOCAL POINT OF RESIDENCE HALL LIVING

• 12 residences share one of the total 30 spacious kitchens that are equipped with tableware and kitchen utensils, 4 fridges, 2 cookers and one huge cooker hood .

• The residents also have individual lockers for foodstuffs or extra kitchen utensils.

Tietgen DormitorySpaces

• The kitchens are furnished with big dining room tables and the coloured chairs that can also be seen in other areas of the residence hall.

• In connection with each kitchen is a utility room with a sink where you e.g. can hang your laundry to dry.

Tietgen DormitorySpaces• A COMMON ROOM FOR ALL OCCASIONS

• The 30 common rooms are linked to a residence group.

• In the common rooms can find cinemas with projector and surround sound, gaming room with console games, a board game room, pool and table football, an oriental lounge with pillows on the floors

• Many of the rooms are furnished withTV, sofa sets or work tables that e.g. can be used in connection with group work.

Tietgen DormitorySpaces• ROOM FOR MUSICAL, CREATIVE, AND PHYSICAL

ACTIVITIES

• On the ground floor, there are two music rooms

• three dedicated workshops for working with sewing (the delicate workshop), wood (the coarse workshop) and bikes respectively.

• Outside the assembly room, there are two barbecue areas that are frequently used by the residents during summer.

Tietgen DormitoryMaterial

• The front of the residence hall is clad with the cobber-based alloy tombak and oak.

• The indoor areas are characterised by the smooth, unpainted concrete walls clad with birch ply and floors of magnesite.

• In the residence corridors, there are plywood-clad walls decorated with printed patterns

Tietgen DormitoryColour

The colourful laundry of the residence hall is also unique, and the colours are repeated e.g. among the chairs, mailboxes, and curtains.

• The wall decoration of Aggebo & Henriksen is based on Japanese folk patterns that are scaled up and printed directly on the wooden panels.

Tietgen DormitoryColour

International Case StudySimons Hall Residence at MIT

• Architects: Steven Holl Architects

• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

• Local Architect: Perry Dean Rogers & Partners

• Project Year: 1999-2002

Simmons HallThe Buildingo PROGRAM: 350 bed dormitory including a dining hall, auditorium, and other

shared facilities

o CLIENT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

o SIZE: 195,000 sf

o STATUS: completed

• The undergraduate residence is envisioned with the concept of "porosity." It is a vertical slice of city, 10 stories tall and 382' long, providing a 125 seat theater, a night café, and street level dining.

Simmons HallThe Shape

• The "sponge" concept transforms the building via a series of programmatic and bio-technical functions.

• The building has five large openings corresponding to main entrances, view corridors, and outdoor activity terraces. 

• Large, dynamic openings are the lungs, bringing natural light down and moving air up.

Simmons HallThe Shape

Simmons HallThe Space• Design features:

Study and group lounges

A multipurpose room

Computer lab

Game room

Laundry facilities and kitchenettes

Simmons HallThe Space• Simmons Hall has five large openings.

• Organized as a city, has a road system which connects the areas allocated to the rooms for students, with spaces added, such as study rooms and areas for computers, a theatre for 125 spectators, a bar open 24 hours, a gym and a dining room with tables outdoors.

Simmons HallThe Space• The recreational spaces, holes are large, cut inside the compact grid that

breaks the monotony of the residential block, and distinguishing feature, with irregular curves of cement in sight, the areas allocated to group activities.

Simmons HallThe Space

• The rooms for students are grouped into several units habitable.

• Each of the rooms are quite spacious dimensions that are reflected in the facade with a module of three windows of three.

Simmons HallThe Space• Even the furniture has been designed by studying Hall. Made of wood, is a

series of modular components that allow the room to organize taste of the student, for example, the bed can be on the ground or on appeal pillars and the lower house on the desktop.

Simmons HallThe Space

• Looking down onto the airy reception desk (left) and main entrance (right) of Simmons Hall.

• A Simmons Hall common area that could serve as a Junior Common Room.

Simmons HallThe Space

• The Simmons dining hall, one of the most attractive spaces in the building. It is again a bit small for a residential college dining hall, but it is easy to see how it can function not only for regular meals but also for special college dinners.

Simmons HallThe Space• A basement-level concert hall and lecture room in the Simmons

Hall residential college.

• it is located just inside the main entrance and opposite the reception desk, it can be easily located by outside visitors coming for college-hosted public events.

Simmons HallThe Space• The Simmons Hall game room, supplied with the usual residential college

equipment: a pool table, a ping-pong table, and a foosball table. The unfortunate central pillar will limit the room’s flexibility.

Simmons HallThe Space• The Simmons Hall library and gallery space, on the second floor

above the reception area.

• The library can double as a permanent museum of artworks by college members.

Simmons HallColor• the 12-inch-deep heads and jambs of the

dorm’s windows are painted with saturated primary and secondary colors.

• color scheme seems more fitting for conservative-minded New England, and yet it’s more frenetic, too.

• Students are not allowed to paint their own rooms.

Simmons HallMaterial• Interiors are mostly composed of concrete structures.

• Metal flooring; gives the building a cool, echoing effect.

• Used precast elements

Simmons HallLighting• All windows can be opened.

• There are cuts in the structure for light and air.

• “ Lungs of the building”

Simmons HallLighting• Each dorm room has 9 operable windows.

• Size and layout of the windows were designed to allow views.

• Each window has its own curtain.

Local Case StudyAbu Dhabi University Dorm

• Established in 2003

• Abu Dhabi University (Abu Dhabi Campus) offers residence units of different classifications.

• Located within the University

Shape

Spaces• 1. Common kitchen

• 2. Laundry rooms

• 3. Common washrooms

• 4. TV room

• 5. Computer areas with PC and wired internet connections

• 6. Wireless Internet connection

• 7. Gym

• 8. Sports Facilities (football, basketbal, volleyball, tennis courts)

• 9. Supermarket

• 10. Transportation to and from the airport and shopping areas

Spaces• Lobby/Reception

Only students are allowed to enter.

SpacesUnit system

• Private Room

Single unit with individual kitchen and bath (1 person/unit)

• Semi-Private

Single Occupancy with Shared Bath and Kitchen(2 persons/unit)

• Double-Sharing

One-bedroom unit with 2 beds with shared kitchen and bath (2 persons/unit)

• Double-Occupancy with Shared Bath and Kitchen

Two-bedroom unit with 2 beds in each room and shared kitchen and bath (4 persons/unit)

Spaces• All units are furnished with beds and complete beddings,

cupboards, closets, microwave ovens and refrigerators.

Spaces• Every room is furnished with a bed, mirror, study table,

mattress, two closets, table lamp and a shoe stand.

Spaces• Offices are located on the ground floor, nearby by the entrance.

• On every floor there is a shared kitchen for all, to cook. (stove provided)

• No canteen/ cafeteria provided within the dorm.

Spaces

Spaces

Material• Ceramic tiles in corridors and rooms.

• Wooden flooring in gym.

• Dropped ceiling

Lighting• Not enough windows provided, restricting natural light.

• 80% of the interior consists of artificial lighting; Fluorescent lighting

Reference • http://

web.mit.edu/facilities/construction/completed/simmons.html

• http://www.archnewsnow.com/features/Feature86.htm

• http://www.stevenholl.com/project-detail.php?id=47

• http://www.archdaily.com/65172/simmons-hall-at-mit-steven-holl/

• http://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/Simmons_Hall_Residence

• http://www.archdaily.com/474237/tietgen-dormitory-lundgaard-and-tranberg-architects/

• http://www.arcspace.com/features/lundgaard--tranberg-/tietgen-dormitory/

• http://tietgenkollegiet.dk/en/the-building/

Reference • https://books.google.ae/books?

id=3xSLAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT113&lpg=PT113&dq=simmons+hall+interior+color&source=bl&ots=oXRuZUL1IN&sig=7jhEcXUPy-u02GBWccYkt2W__3E&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1jH8VOCAMcbIyAPSg4GQAw&ved=0CFEQ6AEwCw#v=onepage&q=simmons%20hall%20interior%20color&f=false

• http://www.payette.com/post/1789308-tour-of-simmons-hall-at-mit

• http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/18/magazine/big-sponge-on-campus.html

• http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/simmons/

• https://couplarchideas.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/the-phenomenological-approach/

• http://architizer.com/projects/mit-simmons-hall/

• http://www.archnewsnow.com/features/Feature86.htm