Elkus Manfredi Architects Ltd

Emerson College Student Residences

Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker

EMERSON COLLEGE STUDENT RESIDENCES

Elkus Manfredi Architects

CODE CONSULTING
Norton S Remmer Consulting Engineers

FIRE PROTECTION
R G Vanderweil Engineers

MEP ENGINEER
R G Vanderweil Engineers

MANUFACTURERS
Endicott, Armstrong Ceilings, EFCO, FilzFelt, NBK North America, Sherwin-Williams, Smoke Guard, Peerless

LIGHTING
Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
McNamara/Salvia

CLIENT
Emerson College

MEP/FP ENGINEERING
R G Vanderweil Engineers

CONSTRUCTION
Suffolk

PHOTOGRAPHS
Peter Vanderwarker

AREA
90000 ft²

YEAR
2018

LOCATION
Boston, United States

CATEGORY
Apartments

Text description provided by architect.

Elkus Manfredi Architects designed an 18-story residence hall that answers Emerson College’s critical demand for on-campus housing, addresses location challenges presented by the site, and serves the needs and desires of Emerson students – creative millennials who crave spaces that provide opportunity for community, social connection, and inspiration.

The 18-story, 375-bed residence hall offers suites and single-, double-, and triple-occupancy student residences in the heart of the college’s growing campus in Boston’s historic Theatre District.

Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker
Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker
Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker

The design features five, themed destination common rooms that address the urban campus’s need for indoor and outdoor communal student spaces. 

Achieved LEED-NC Gold while preserving and incorporating the façade of a historic building into the new structure.

The site included two existing buildings requiring different approaches: 1-2 Boylston Place was a deteriorated early 20th-century commercial building with little historic significance. It needed to be taken down.

Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker
Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker
Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker

3 Boylston Place, known as the Ancient Landmark Building, was constructed in 1888 as a lodge for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a unique organization that was dedicated to helping impoverished people and also the first of the lodges to allow female members.

The red brick masonry, stone, and copper of 3 Boylston Place exhibits an eclectic combination of Queen Anne and Romanesque revival architecture unique in the district. 

Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker
Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker

Unlike 1-2 Boylston Place, 3 Boylston Place needed to be preserved. The new facility, 2 Boylston Place, showcases Elkus Manfredi’s innovative thinking in the effective use of indoor space.

Because Emerson’s tight urban campus lacks outdoor communal spaces for its gregarious and socially-engaged students, indoor opportunities for spontaneous student interaction, personal expression, and social gathering are an essential feature of any addition to the college’s building inventory.

Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker
Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker

While traditional college residential designs generally include a small, multi-purpose common space on every floor, the new residence hall’s relatively small footprint (5,400 gsf) rendered those types of spaces impractical.

Elkus Manfredi solved this challenge by creating larger shared community spaces on five floors in the building that are themed around the social needs and desires of the Emerson students who will occupy it.

Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker

The new common rooms include: a ground-floor space adjacent to a small café can open onto Boylston Place during pleasant weather to integrate the building with the pedestrian walkway; an airy lobby space with artistic design elements reminiscent of a backstage theater space; a two-story space with a performance stage element and a quiet mezzanine for study; a cooking/dining community space on Level 4 designed to allow an entire floor of students to have a communal meal; a spectacular community space on Level 14 includes a panoramic view of the city and an outdoor terrace for special occasions, allowing all of the student residents of the building to enjoy the benefits of Emerson’s unique location.

Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker
Emerson College Student Residences
© Peter Vanderwarker


Emerson College Student Residences
Elevation
Emerson College Student Residences
Elevation


Emerson College Student Residences
Axo
Emerson College Student Residences
Construction details


Emerson College Student Residences
First floor plan
Emerson College Student Residences
Second floor plan
Emerson College Student Residences
Sixth floor plan
Emerson College Student Residences
Fourteenth floor plan
Emerson College Student Residences
Site plan


Emerson College Student Residences
Section 1

Emerson College Student Residences
Section 2

Elkus Manfredi Architects Ltd
T +1 617 4261300
Elkus Manfredi Architects Ltd
25 Drydock Ave, Boston, MA 02210, United States