“Massive in scale, timeless in design, USC Village is a new kind of space where living and learning come together,” according to a statement about the latest project of the University of Southern California (USC).

The project also happens to be the biggest development in the history of south Los Angeles. A $700-million investment funded entirely by USC, the development includes six buildings, totaling 1.25 million square feet of space on 15 acres. USC Village combines residential college living for 2,500 students with retail choices never before seen in the neighborhood.

The man who saw to that the project was built on time and on budget is Director of Construction Willy Marsh. He spent thousands of hours on the project. And now he’s done — almost. Among the topics explored in this lively interview with Marsh are the innovations he and his team employed to complete six buildings on time and on budget. Among them was a new building technique to finish exterior brick walls that used 2,500 pre-cast panels measuring 24 feet x 12 feet and weighing 9,000 pounds each, and were assembled off site, then delivered and installed.

The panels consisted of of brick, grout, precast window surrounds, rebar and concrete, according to Marsh. By using this method, the six buildings were “skinned” in a relatively quick 11 months. Had traditional methods been used, it’s estimated that the same process would have taken at least 1.5 years longer to complete. Throughout, the off-site fabrication helped maintain high levels of quality control.

Having the panels installed with cranes also eliminated the need for scaffolding, which saved time and reduced risks to workers’ safety.

As Marsh said in an interview with the USC News, “I’m sitting back a little more in the chair now because of these critical milestones we’ve achieved.”

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Memphis, Tenn.-based EdR, which will manage the facility upon completion in summer 2018, will own 80 percent of the community, while New York-based Park7 Group, in charge of development, will own 20 percent. Dallas-headquartered Humphreys & Partners is serving as the architect on the project.

The $106 million development is being built on what was once a parking lot, located one block north of both the Pitt and CMU campuses. A rendering of the project shows trees lining the 17-story building, which is anchored by a massive windowed lobby. It will house 723 beds in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations, which will feature in-unit washers and dryers and granite countertops. Access to Wi-Fi throughout the building will also help serve today’s student population. A 381-space parking structure and 10,000 square feet of retail space will round out the development.

As an urban high-rise, the building is designed to provide private spaces as well as other features that create a sense of community for the student population. “Its bed-bath parity paired with communal spaces within the community gives students privacy where they want it, along with places where they can study or socialize,” said Scott Barton, EdR’s vice president of acquisition and development for the project.

An indoor-outdoor lounge located on the roof and an amenity deck with a pool, fire pit and grills, for instance, will provide space for students to socialize in this urban setting, according to Barton. A state-of-the-art fitness center will also be available.

Located in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, the new facility will join other student-housing facilities that make up a large part of the community. “As student-housing markets have evolved, part of the design challenge on projects like this is to give the building a modern look and feel, but also help it mesh with the neighborhood it’s in,” Barton said.

The construction of the student-housing community, which has been in the pipeline for almost three years, will help fill a housing void at this particular end of the campus, especially as enrollment continues to grow at both schools. “The purpose of the project is to provide high-quality student housing in an area near both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University campuses, which have very little purpose-built student housing,” Barton said.

In 2015, Pitt had nearly 29,000 students enrolled and is currently ranked as the No. 24 public university in the country per U.S. News and World Report’s 2016 rankings. CMU was ranked No. 23 in the U.S. News and World Report’s latest rankings and has a total enrollment of 13,650 students.

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The first phase of the project will begin next month when McCarty Hall is torn down, reported The Seattle Times. The dorm has been vacant since last fall, and will eventually be replaced by three new residence halls, scheduled to open in fall 2018. This first phase of the project will cost $240 million and will be financed through bond sales, which will be paid through student-housing fees.

The project’s second phase, which has yet to be approved by the UW Board of Regents, will cost an estimated $140 million, according to The Seattle Times. It will include the demolition of Haggett Hall and construction of two new residence halls. After the completion of these two halls and the three being constructed as part of the first phase, the north end of campus will eventually be able to house 2,870 students. That’s roughly 400 more beds than McCarty and Haggett Halls offered before McCarty Hall closed.

The new residence halls will feature a variety of room sizes and designs to offer different room rates to students. They will include rooms to fit three and four students as well as double rooms with private bathrooms, which are more expensive, according to UW’s project overview. One of the two residence halls to replace McCarty Hall will include a new dining facility and catering kitchen, which will support the north campus area. A new catering kitchen in the second resident hall will serve the entire campus.

Following an analysis of both McCarty and Haggett Halls, it was determined that renovations would have been more expensive than replacing the two with the five new halls as they would need to be retrofitted to meet seismic, energy, infrastructure and current high-rise code requirements, according to UW’s project overview.

Another residence hall, McMahon Hall, also located on the north end of campus, is being evaluated as well. Depending on the evaluation, the structure could be remodeled, converted to an academic building or demolished to make room for another facility.

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In response to student demand for more upscale environments that boast the latest and greatest innovations, rather than the dingy dorm rooms of dorm living past, there has been a cross-pollination of traditional dorms with apartment-style facilities.

The Cross-Pollination

Students have been experiencing the features of market-rate living in their dorm rooms, which have incorporated trends like higher-quality furnishings and amenities as well as an increased separation of private space and social environments.

Furnishings such as granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and amenities such as fitness center pools and interior and exterior communal lounges are only a few examples of the amenities that have been enhanced in student living. Establishments such as the University of Arizona, University of Florida and University of Texas have incorporated walk-in closets, personal washers and dryers, spa saunas and even maid service into on-campus living layouts.

Another aspect of market-rate housing that has trickled into student housing is the increased separation of private and social spaces. Designs in market-rate housing have allowed residents to retreat to their own personal space when they want to, but also enjoy expanded areas for socialization beyond the floor lounge found in traditional dorms such as pools, rooftop decks, lounges with TVs and pool tables and fitness centers.

The Driving Factors

In market-rate housing, everybody wants to live in the heart of the action, preferably in an urban setting. It’s more about what is around the living space, rather than what is in it. The urban experience surrounding the apartment, with bars, grocery stores, restaurants and amenities within the apartment building or complex like pools, rooftop decks and parks, are what truly contribute to the attractiveness of a property.

By partnering with developers, colleges and universities have been able to implement student dorms and apartments with market-rate amenities without assuming the risk. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the budgets for university-constructed dorms, such as Temple University’s latest residence hall, Morgan Hall, have greater budgets than luxury high-rise apartment buildings in the same city — in this case Philadelphia.

What the Future Holds

Some trends will continue to influence student-living layouts, such as proving academic benefit, drawing students back into on-campus housing and multigenerational coexistence.

Universities and colleges will strive to prove the academic benefit of residing in their new luxury dorms and apartments. It will be up to schools to provide statistics on academic success and higher GPAs if students live in certain types of housing. Having this information would help draw students into these on-campus layouts rather than private complexes.

Similarly, maintaining a relationship with the communities surrounding a campus must always be a priority for school administrators, and schools should make a conscious effort to draw students out of surrounding neighborhoods and into the new on-campus buildings. Old, traditional dorms have not drawn students in, especially when they can get luxury amenities and often less expensive rent off campus. However, the amenities on campus can and will change that.

Finally, we are seeing an increased adoption of the residential college system, based on medieval prototypes with integration of faculty in student-living arrangements where students are members of a given college for their entire academic career. This reinforces a sense of an academic community to which each individual belongs. This system could become much more common. Traditionally, the Ivy League schools such as Princeton and Yale followed this system in emulation of original universities like Oxford and Cambridge. A professor and his family will be the “master” of the college and live in attached quarters. Other faculty may reside within the college complex as well. By incorporating multigenerational living, universities can provide further means for students and professors to form bonds and create an experience of shared wisdom and energy between the various age groups.

Ever-increasing competition to attract students means that the stakes are constantly rising for university investments for student life. As a result, when today’s students exit the university and enter the working world, their expectations are much higher than their predecessors. Millennials are renting longer than earlier generations, perhaps in part because expectations are so high that the purchase of a home with similar appointments to the rentals to which they are accustomed is out of reach, at least within desirable urban neighborhoods. A question might be when the spiraling upward of expectations might end. Chances are, not anytime soon.

Michael Ytterberg, PHD, AIA, LEED AP; Nicole Dress, AIA, LEED AP; and Kevin Aires, AIA, LEED AP are all principals at BLT Architects of Philadelphia.

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The $370 million design-build project will support the university’s Second-year Transformational Experience Program (STEP), which requires sophomores to reside on campus in student housing.

“The time and effort we put into this review process allowed us to work with the industry experts to identify efficiencies in construction techniques and scheduling that will not only save a significant amount of money, but will also allow us to deliver facilities that will enhance their experience, including STEP,” said Jay Kasey, senior vice president for administration and planning at OSU, in a statement. “We are dedicated to keeping costs affordable for students while delivering an exceptional product.”

The competitive review process, which began in December 2012, led to an estimated saving of $26 million, according to the school’s press release. The two-phase construction project is set to begin this summer and conclude before the fall semester of 2016. Upon completion, the residential district will be able to accommodate 6,400 students.

The project will add nearly 39,000 square feet of common area space for students and up dining seats by about 500.

A press release issued by HKS suggested the project, which also includes a new fitness center, outdoor recreational facilities and support facilities for STEP programming, will not only attract students but also visitors.

“HKS is proud to be taking the leadership design team role on the project,” said David Harper, FAIA, director of higher education and principal-in-charge at HKS, in a statement. “We believe this project will truly create the transformative change that will positively impact the lives of students on the Ohio State campus for the next 100 years.”

STEP, to begin implementation in the fall 2013 semester, is a pilot program with a two-year on-campus requirement of student participants. In its first year, 1,000 students will be randomly selected for the program aimed to provide more focused engagement with faculty that will ultimately lead to higher graduation and retention rates, and post-graduation success.

The program gives special emphasis to the promotion of study abroad programs, undergraduate research, service learning and community service, leadership, internships and artistic endeavors. Students who participate will be eligible to receive a $2,000 scholarship upon completion of the program.

“At the core of the STEP initiative is student engagement and student success,” said Javaune Adams-Gaston, vice president of OSU’s student life, in a statement. “This project will enhance and expand our ability to provide an extraordinary student experience at Ohio State.”

The construction team, led by Messer, also includes Miles-McClellan Construction, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Brailsford & Dunlavey, Schooley Caldwell Associates, KZF Design Inc., Heapy Engineering, Shelley Metz Baumann Hawk, Korda Nemeth Engineering and MKSK.

The new facilities will allow OSU to support a new system of student housing that they believe will revolutionize the student experience.

“With this program, Ohio State will set the bar nationally through the development of an innovative second-year experience and the construction of facilities to support the experience,” said Joseph Alutto, executive vice president and provost, in a statement. “By taking this next step in the redefinition of the student experience, we will quicken the pace of Ohio State’s journey from excellence to eminence.”

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The $71 million student housing expansion project is in its first phase of the two new resident buildings — totaling 260,000 square feet and 767 beds. Students will be welcomed “home” when the project is complete in September 2013.

“This project will transform the atmosphere on east campus,” said David Singleton, University of Delaware vice president for facilities and auxiliary services, in a statement. “We are confident that Skanska USA will develop spaces that our students will be proud to call home.”

The project consists of extensive site development, which includes landscaping and site finishes, walkways, fire lanes, and utility infrastructure that will include connections to the central utility plant. The utility plant controls the university’s steam distribution, chilled water and electricity. In addition, office space for the university’s Office of Residential Life will be part of Phase I.

“This milestone is significant of Skanska as we inch closer to delivering comfortable student housing for one of the country’s fastest-growing and most esteemed, historic institutions,” said Ed Szwarc, general manager and executive vice president of Skanska’s Delaware and Pennsylvania offices.

The project will be completed in three phases — and with the recent commencement of the topping out ceremony, Skanska USA is on schedule with the project, even though the methods used in the topping out ceremony were untraditional.

The last steel beam was not raised in the ceremony — a hybrid panelized wall system, which is often used for hotel construction, has been installed in place of the traditional steel beams used in most buildings in order to save time and money. For example, hybrid wall paneling for one floor of the building, which is approximately 30,000 square feet, is built in two weeks.

“Skanska has a long track record for success in higher education construction, and we look forward to completing this expansion project with our local partners and the University of Delaware to provide its students with an innovative, collaborative learning environment,” said Szwarc.

Also working to Skanska on the project was Wilmington, Del.-based architecture firm ABHA Architects. The project has a strong Delaware presence, as 66 percent of all the work has been awarded to local Delaware subcontractors in an effort to contribute to the state’s economic recovery and boost job creation.

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California and Italianate

“However, negotiations with both cities concluded an agreement on single jurisdiction for various elements of the project, such as fire code, building code and inspections,” Sugg says.

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