To build a better dorm

On a sunny afternoon in the "backyard" of East Campus, the space between Southgate Dormitory and the intramural field is a swirl of green grass, golden sunshine and gray wall. The gravel path that starts at the break in the wall connects the busy street to Blackwell and Randolph--the two "institutional-like" dormitories that offer quite a change of scenery from the rolling hills of grass passed en route.

Student complaints about the dreariness of the two dorms have led administrators who are currently planning a new freshman dorm, which will be built this summer along the same path and by the same company, to be cautious about repeating past mistakes.

From a bird's-eye-view, the four-story, $13.8 million dorm will resemble a "Z" with the inner angle straightened out, and share a roofline with the third and top floor of Randolph. A bridge will also connect the second floor of the new dorm and Randolph's ground floor.

"This is a building that will complete a quadrangle with [Gilbert-Addoms], Southgate, Blackwell and Randolph, so the architecture will fit Randolph and Blackwell," said Larry Moneta, vice president of student affairs. "[Randolph and Blackwell] have been fine, but the rooms built were not big enough to accommodate the contemporary collection of stuff students bring. Learning from some mistakes made in the past, the rooms will be bigger and there will be changes to the exterior architecture."

"There is a science about housing, where you don't want more than 400 students within an administrative unit," said Moneta. "Eight to twelve [rooms are] ideal for a face-to-face community, and it might be the size of a corridor, the wing of the building," that determines one's social networks, Moneta emphasized.

Keeping with the current residential model, each floor will have 22 to 24 rooms split among two RAs, with the exception of a ground floor for common programming space. A media center like that of the McClendon Tower is still being discussed.

"It's all form following function," said Eddie Hull, director of Residence Life and Housing Services. "If we expect students to form relationships that are important to them, we have to make it possible for them to gather. That is the reason we've put more study rooms and more community space to create opportunities for students to gather formally or informally."

Plans for the new dorm will include more such spaces, including a computer cluster in the dorm and a commons room and two study rooms on every floor. The new dorm will also have more bathrooms than commonly found in other East dorms, and the average double will be larger than the average double elsewhere on East, but smaller than the largest doubles in the West-Edens Link. There will also be a Duke police substation near the dorm to address student safety concerns about dorms off the main quad.

Although the new dorm was erected less on the philosophy "build it and they will come" and more "they come, so we build," the construction of the new dorm has observed common student desires for suitable housing, even if the more unrealistic ones were ignored.

Freshman Holt Calhoon, a current resident of Gilbert-Addoms suggested some quirky features for the new dorm--including a snack shop and digital art on the walls, but also offered some more tangible ideas.

"You also need [air conditioning], and don't do that hall bathroom--do a suite with four people to one bathroom," Calhoon said.

Students also expressed the need for a bus stop created specifically for the dorm, a common space like the balcony on GA and an exterior appearance that is more appealing than that of Randolph and Blackwell.

Dan Oppedisano, a Southgate resident, said the new dorm should improve on some undesirable features of Blackwell and Randolph. "The rooms look like penitentiaries, with cinder-block... [and] a very unhomely-like feeling," he said.

Administrators are working with Architectural Resources Cambridge--the same company that designed the Randolph and Blackwell exteriors and is currently constructing the Sanford Institute of Public Policy addition--to pack as much punch as possible into the still-unnamed dorm.

"This is a small building, but we're putting a lot of horsepower into it so hopefully it becomes the standard from now on, which students will value even more than they do now," Hull said.

One of the University's attempts to relieve the distance problem is making the location a second entrance to East and increasing access to Ninth Street.

"We want to strengthen the pedestrian feel between East and Ninth Street [since] the best safety is when you have safety on the street," said Moneta. "Ninth Street should become an even more important component of student life, when we build products like bowling alleys, music venues."