Boston University’s newest student residence tower recently opened. Designed by Cannon Design, Boston, the residence tower is designed to enhance student life and the integration of learning spaces throughout the university. The tower is the latest building in the development of the John Hancock Student Village, the heart of student activities also master planned and designed by Cannon Design. The 26-story tower provides the university with a distinctive and contemporary landmark for visitors entering the city from the west, and takes full advantage of stunning views of Mount Wachussett to the Harbor Islands and beyond.
The 396,000-square-foot (36,788-m2) building provides housing for 962 students in a wide range of apartment and suite sizes, along with 20 resident assistant units and three apartment units for faculty. In addition to the residential units, the facility incorporates multiple educational and social spaces including two classrooms, large and small collaborative study spaces, music practice rooms, a video room, student life offices and an open multipurpose room on the top floor. Art from the university’s students at the College of Fine Arts is displayed in the main lobby and second floor gallery spaces.
The project incorporates a range of sustainable features including the use of rapidly renewable bamboo for ceilings and feature walls at the entry, a highly reflective roof to reduce heat gain, double glazed low-E coated glass to maximize transparency while providing solar shading, occupancy sensors for mechanical systems, and dual-flush toilets and low flow water fixtures to reduce use of potable water. The result is a warm and welcoming atmosphere that also reduces the building’s impact on environmental resources.
A terracotta/metal panel rainscreen system was used for the exterior envelope cladding. The system was shop fabricated for cost effectiveness, and on-site panel installation facilitated construction and allowed for the swift erection of the building envelope, thereby shortening the construction schedule. The lighter weight of the façade system reduced the amount of steel required to support it-also saving material resources.
“Metal was chosen as an exterior metal because it offers the opportunity to break down the scale of the building,” said Principal Robert J. Peterson, AIA, LEED AP, who led the project for Cannon Design. “While metal is the predominant material on the exterior, it is used in a rainscreen application in combination with terracotta to create a sophisticated, contemporary expression. Silver has been used as the metal color to provide an ever-changing appearance as the changing colors from the sun are reflected in the façade.”
Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga., supplied 27,552 square feet (2,560 m2) of metal wall panels, and Armstrong Ceilings, Lancaster, Pa., supplied 143,924 square feet (13,371 m2) of acoustical ceiling tiles. Additionally, Prelco Inc., Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, Canada, supplied 11,484 square feet (1,069 m2) of glass panels; Midwest Curtainwalls Inc., Cleveland, supplied 61,260 square feet (5,691 m2) of curtainwall and 3,828 square feet
(356 m2) of fixed window framing; and Ellison Bronze Inc., Falconer, N.Y., supplied eight pairs of doors for the project.
Alcoa Architectural Products, www.alcoaarchitecturalproducts.com
Armstrong Ceilings, www.armstrong.com
Ellison Bronze Inc., www.ellisonbronze.com
Midwest Curtainwalls Inc., www.midwestcurtainwalls.com
Prelco Inc., www.prelco.ca
