Nestled in a corner of a 100-acre campus lies a housing village accommodating students attending the foundation’s esteemed School of Nursing. The thoughtful design evokes a European village, paying homage to rooflines, massing, fenestration, and masonry detailing typical of that style. Additionally, through matching exterior material language and scale, the design successfully facilitated a sense of community and connectedness between the new construction of the housing village, an adjacent 1940s colonial house, and the larger campus.  

The new 14-unit village provides residents with modern amenities and energy-efficient solutions that serve the campus at large. The cottages offer 1, 2, and 3-bedroom layouts. The innovative building plan provides access to the second-floor units through individual entrance doors or a shared elevator lobby. Further, the architect selected and oriented windows to provide dramatic front-to-back views, natural light, and cross-ventilation.

Each housing unit features a unique entrance via door color and paneling; this individuality extends into the interior, where unit-specific millwork, wall colors, and decorative tile add further character to each varied floor plan. The design team paid special attention to vertical and horizontal acoustic isolation, so despite physical proximity, each space provides privacy between units.  

Nearby wetlands and other zoning challenges require creative design solutions. The team worked closely with civil engineers and landscape architects to leverage circulation within the village and its connections to the campus at large. Pedestrian paths were expanded to allow electric carts to navigate cross-campus trips between housing and other facilities while keeping out larger vehicular traffic. In addition, coupling the concise circulation with large areas of plantings engages the individual at the pedestrian level while providing privacy and quiet amongst the community buildings.