Atwater Commons Architect Addresses Dorm Design New Suites to Feature Cieling Fans and Views of Rolling Landscape

Author: Daniel Phillips

It may come as a surprise that the latest innovation in thinking about materials and project design is being implemented in the field of architecture, and that these very ideas have already taken shape in Middlebury College's own backyard with the construction of Atwater Commons.

Looking at other assembly-line industries to develop a different, more sustainable production process, James Timberlake of Kieran Timberlake Associates, LLP, explained the emergence of this new vernacular in architecture and how he has applied it to Atwater's new dining hall and residence halls in his lecture last Thursday in Johnson.

The History of Art and Architecture Department, Facilities Planning and Atwater Commons sponsored the lecture.

As head architect of the construction project, Timberlake has taken the traditional way of assembling and made the construction process cheaper and more sustainable through off-site assembly and recycling materials that reduces costs and improves efficiency, without the swarm of workers necessary for bringing materials onsite. By applying his concepts to not only the building process, but also the arrangements of rooms within Atwater's new residence halls, Timberlake has created a whole new living dynamic that reinforces and enhances the commons system at the College.

The two new residence halls - still referred to as Hall A (closest to Coffrin) and Hall B (closest to Allen) - are both striking and thoroughly confusing, as they have no hallways but are comprised of blocks of suites accessible by different stairwells.

There are three elevators and stairwells in each residence hall that scale five floors at the north end of Hall A and four at its south. Hall B has four levels to the north and three to the south. Upon entry to a typical suite, residents approach a coat hook and bench at the entryway. Turning in the direction of the green between residence halls, students enter the common room of their suite with approximate dimensions of 14 by 25 feet. The furnished common rooms are naturally lit and ventilated by three windows nearly six feet high and two ceiling fans installed on the 11-foot ceiling overhead.

The far end of the common room leads to a full kitchen graced with natural wood cabinets and a sink, stove top and refrigerator. The bathroom area around the corner contains a sink and storage area with a separate shower room, enclosed behind a sliding door.

Filling out the space between the bathroom and the other end of the residence hall facing away from the quad are four single bedrooms with views of Bicentennial Hall and the Vermont landscape as tumbling cornfields stretch as far as the Adirondack Mountains towards the west.

Each bedroom, with approximate dimensions of 10.5 by 12.5 feet, has its own ceiling fan and a transom over the doorway to provide natural air circulation even with a closed door. The walls between rooms are heavily insulated for privacy and the space was carefully designed to facilitate the positioning of beds in a variety of ways, Timberlake explained.

Anywhere from eight to 10 suites will surround a stairwell, and every suite in either of the residence halls will run through the width of the entire building, utilizing views on both sides. Timberlake noted that the clustering of suites around stair towers allows for a further level of engagement within the commons system, the architect's main goal.

Most suites will accommodate four students, but some will be designed with bedroom space for three or even five single residents. At the southern end of each building, there are clusters of singles for those who do not wish to live in a suite. These rooms, however, are significantly larger by at least two feet in each dimension due to the design of the corners. The bedrooms are still connected by a furnished common room, but provide separate restroom facilities for men and women. The ground level of Hall A houses a seminar room in its southeast corner and Hall B has a library in the corresponding space.

The buildings themselves are actually inflected and slanted at an angle in their design to break down the scale of the colossal structures and to channel natural ventilation. Even the chimneys of the hall aid circulation, drawing the air flow up out of the building.

The architect also wanted to maintain views to the north by placing them parallel, which is why he chose not to block them off with a square quadrangle scheme.

Timberlake pointed out that portions of the outside granite faÁades were even laid with recycled headstones that had been misspelled or misattributed, but the predominant stonework was chosen to reflect the granite theme in Ross Commons with limestone on the inner sides of the residence halls for a brighter hue.

Timberlake explained that the new residence halls were designed to mimic Old Stone Row - which constitutes Painter Hall, Old Chapel and Starr Hall - which he felt are the seminal buildings on campus.

The architect drew inspiration from these core elements, as they have been replicated throughout the construction of many new buildings on campus, including Bicentennial Hall. Timberlake added that the graining, or arranged direction or pattern, of the buildings in Atwater is distinctly north to south, as both Coffrin and Bicentennial Hall run along similar ridgelines and extend in the same direction towards Parking Lot C.

The residence halls are on schedule for completion by next summer, ready for occupancy in August of 2004.

"I suspect they will be very popular in room draw, especially for people living off-campus," commented Timberlake. From the very inception of the project, the architect had envisioned the influx of seniors and juniors being able to mentor and interact with sophomores and first-years by living in such close proximity within Atwater Commons, an idea that was conceived out of the commons system itself.

Timberlake noted that the master plan for Atwater's construction project began around the same time as that of Ross Commons' refurbishing nearly seven years ago - the actual physical planning had not set in until 1999. At their time of inception, the new residence halls' positioning and relationship to other buildings in the commons underwent close to 40 different possibilities before the final layout was decided upon. Most of these prototypes incorporated Freeman International Center (FIC) as the central dining hall to the commons.

"It was very much about how the buildings were going to engage the landscape," explained Timberlake in last Thursday's lecture. Some of the earlier options included plugging two towers next to FIC and Le Ch‚teau in a straight line towards Bicentennial Hall - this plan was ultimately discarded because the towers would block campus views out to the west and north.

"It became clearer," described Timberlake, "that the new residence halls wanted to engage the landscape" much like the way the existing commons had done before, looking out and beyond Coffrin and Le Ch‚teau from Battell Beach.

The primary concern in planning with the trustees was the placement of the dining hall, remembered Timberlake from a meeting two years ago in the Coffrin lounge. It was decided at the meeting that FIC was not a good dining hall for the future of the commons and that a brand new facility could also help improve Allen.

The new Atwater dining hall implements a green, planted roof atop the ellipsoidal structure that has been inserted into a hillside leading into Nichols path towards Allen. The dining hall will serve 220 people when opened and has a lounge and a seminar room. Its interior dining space is almost an extension of the exterior landscape, as Timberlake sees it - students have views of the treetops through large, modern rectangular windows.

FIC will then serve as an expansion place for other departments. />
"Once the construction of the new buildings is finished, Atwater Commons will be the second of five commons that can be termed 'complete,'" said Mark Gleason, project manager of Facilities Planning. Gleason pointed out some of the highlights of the construction process thus far: "In the short term, completion of Parking lot E prior to the return of students, increased student interest as the buildings take shape, and importantly, the cooperation and understanding of students in Allen, Coffrin and Le Ch‚teau in living in and around a major construction site."

Gleason contintued, "In the long term, Atwater Commons will be a fabulous example of six very unique buildings [including the dining hall] that coordinate with and relate to each other extremely well, thereby creating a completed commons."

"If the comments heard from students who have been on tours are any indication of student interest, and I believe they are, the buildings will be very successful in encouraging Atwater Commons continuity over four years, as well as attracting seniors to stay on campus."