The Village@115 at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, is a residential village for undergraduates. The $129 million project has seven interconnected residence halls built around the university's renovated football field, along with a 1,200-car garage.
The living facility can house 740 students in 172 air-conditioned suites ranging in size from studios to nine bedrooms, most with living rooms and full kitchens. Each house has a number of features to foster social interaction and facilitate group learning. Among these are a house lounge with a fireplace, group-study rooms and music practice rooms. The complex also features an 80-foot-high clock tower, as well as a library, Starbucks, fitness center and convenience store.
It combines traditional elements with 21st-century features. The buildings have cast-stone elements on the exterior, which evoke the Collegiate Gothic style, while shielding the interiors from sun glare and reducing demand for air conditioning.
Among the sustainable-design elements is a system for collecting runoff water and piping it directly into the ground, rather than relying on the city's wastewater-collection system. Hot and chilled water are generated at two locations in the buildings, and distributed to each house to maximize the use of free cooling during the “shoulder” spring and fall season.
The architect for this project is Goody Clancy (Boston).
