With its undulating brick facade, landscaped courtyards, and generous public walkway, Butler College connects with Princeton’s rich Collegiate Gothic tradition in a fresh and lively way.
The 288-bed complex is clad in varying-colored red brick, accented with both continuous and randomly placed bands of limestone. Responding to the need for larger bedrooms on upper-level suites, the facades are further animated with wavelike undulations that expand and contract according to interior use.
The surrounding site is sculpted into a split-level landscape, with both upper- and lower-level courtyards connecting to the existing Butler Commons. New pedestrian paths and vistas enrich the campus while extending the long tradition of space-shaping buildings at Princeton.
SITE: In the southwest quadrant of the historic campus
COMPONENTS: 112,000 ft2 / 10,000 m2 gross area; five dormitories within two buildings; café, study library, lounge, gallery, seminar rooms, landscaped courtyards
CLIENT: Princeton University Office of Design and Construction
PCF&P SERVICES: Master planning, architecture, exterior envelope, interior design
SUSTAINABILITY: Designed for LEED certification
AWARDS:
Brick in Architecture Awards: Silver Award, Education
Brick Industry Association, 2011
Design Awards: Merit Award, Campus Housing
Residential Architect, 2011
Outstanding Design
American School & University, 2013
Golden Trowel Award
International Masonry Institute / Masonry Contractors of New Jersey / Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers of New Jersey, 2009
Award of Merit, Education
American Concrete Institute, New Jersey Chapter, 2010
Construction Excellence Awards: Best Specialty Contractor Project
General Building Contractors Association, 2010
Status: Built
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Firm Role: Design Architectural Firm
Additional Credits: Landscape: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., Brooklyn, NY
Structural: Leslie E. Roberston Associates, New York
Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing: Vanderweil Engineering, Lawrenceville, NJ
Lighting: Cosentini Associates / One Lux Studio, New York
Images: Taylorphoto.com, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Jon Roemer
