The West-Edens Link is nearing its final form, and is on schedule for completion in July 2002.
The three-building, $37 million complex will include about 350 undergraduate beds, and administrators and students hope it will bridge the residential divide between Main West Campus and Edens Quadrangle.
Administrators had questioned the completion date after construction workers discovered a large pit of debris last winter. After some intense work over the summer, however, the construction is on a tight schedule to be finished by next fall.
"We are on schedule. We don't have much slack, and we're thankful that the hurricanes didn't hit this year," said Judith White, assistant vice president and director of the Residential Program Review.
The structures of the buildings have reached their final height, with the exception of the 75-foot tower of Building D, the section closest to Few Quadrangle.
In the final stages, the University is focusing on how best to integrate the WEL into its surroundings. A bridge and ground-level staircase will connect Buildings A and B to the staircase between Craven and Wannamaker Quadrangles. A bridge and staircase will also connect Building D with Few Quad, and a walkway on top of Building D will lead under a canopy to the main tower and down to Edens.
A fire lane will cut into the space between Main West and the WEL, running under the bridge, but the rest of the space will be landscaped. In early 2002, the University will remove the air-conditioning
The main entrances to the WEL buildings will open into commons rooms, with archways and large windows creating a welcoming connection to Main West, White said.
"We sited most of the stairs and passageways for people returning home from classes. That way it will feel like coming back to your home, back to your entrance," White said. "We can't move [Edens] up to West, but we can make it nicer to get there."
Most of the WEL will be dark red brick, with Duke stone covering the archways and tower. Duke stone is six times more expensive than brick, White said.
Original thoughts from over a year ago on designing the buildings called for a completed quad, as opposed to the current U-shaped design. White said another building directly next to Edens would cut off the lower area and undermine the intention of the link. She added, however, that administrators are considering more buildings for the area, especially amid ongoing discussions of increasing enrollment in the Pratt School of Engineering.
Building A--closest to and running parallel to Towerview Road--is furthest along in construction. The exterior walls are nearing completion and stud frames have been installed inside.
The hallways in Buildings B and C--which run parallel to Main West--are elbowed in the middle to make them seem shorter, with an open den area there similar to a commons room. The layout is
"These are rather long buildings. You don't want it to look like a hospital with the long hallways," White said.
The rooms are designed with rows of 140-square-foot singles and 240-square-foot doubles across from each other. Most doubles have the same design with a closet on each side of the entrance, about 9-foot ceilings and three windows. The rooms and hallways will be carpeted, and the commons rooms and dens will have wooden floors.
Senior C.J. Walsh, president of Duke Student Government, said the new dorm rooms, combined with the diner, cafe and lounge space planned for the tower, will change the center of West Campus. "I'm jealous I'm graduating because I won't live there," Walsh said. "What defines prime housing now is proximity to campus amenities, and this will spread amenities out more."
Although all rooms will be handicap-accessible, three singles will have private bathrooms for disabled students. The WEL buildings will also have three elevators.
Planners designed the WEL specifically so that it could not be seen from the Main West Quad. The WEL's main tower will be its highest point--rising to about the same height as Few Quad--but Main West's skyline view will not change.
At the same time, planners also tried to maintain views of Main West from Edens and the WEL. Craven and Wannamaker Quads are visible from Edens through the passage between the WEL's Buildings A and B, and Few Quad is visible to the right.
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