From August 2015
By Suzelle Tempero, Director of Communications, Campus and Student Life
The Campus North Residential Commons project marked an important milestone recently with a topping off ceremony that gathered employees and staff from the University of Chicago, Mortenson Construction, and Studio Gang Architects.
The groups signed a large steel beam and cheered as it was lifted into place on the 15-story building. Construction is due to be completed in fall of 2016, in time to house College students near the center of campus.
The building was designed around the University’s distinctive College Housing program, which represents a unique approach to fostering community amongst undergraduate students through learning and friendship.
“High-quality collegiate housing, located centrally on the campus, is an enormous asset in supporting the education goals of the faculty, in developing active and stimulating learning communities among our students, and in encouraging patterns of lifelong friendship among our alumni,” said Dean John W. Boyer.
Another facet of the building’s design is connecting the student residences to a series of new public green spaces and environments. The Campus North Residential Commons will be an attractive and vibrant addition to the northern part of campus as it joins the Smart Museum, the Court Theater, the Ratner Athletic Center and the Henry Crown Field House. In addition to housing two classrooms and a reading room with uninterrupted views of the city, Campus North will also feature five retail venues and two interior courtyards.
“Campus North reflects our dual commitment to creating a community of scholars and to engaging with the communities that surround our campus,” said Karen Warren Coleman, Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services. “This design is intentionally a gateway that links the neighborhood and the University.”