Thanks for the update 85bears46 (Doug Plank). The new Woodlawn Commons houses 1309 students and a dining commons. As you note, Campus North houses 800. Woodlawn’s budget is $102 M, and North $148 M. Woodlawn = about $80 K / student, North over twice that. I would be interested to hear the discussions before committing to this dorm. The tallest tower (East side) should have a nice view of the Obama Center and the lake.
When the drawings of Campus North first came out around six or seven years ago, my jaws dropped. It was so nice as compared to the dorms at my Lower Ivy many years ago. The top floor study room at Campus North has a sweeping view of downtown skyline and the lake. Now it is completed, it looks even nicer than the drawings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB6QpIcn-qM
I have not been physically inside Campus North, although I walked by it many times. This kid posted a video of her room:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRT2fyN1aKc&t=99s
The architect firm who is designing Woodlawn Residential Commons will be Elkus-Manfredi Architects. Manfredi got his master degree from U of C and it seems to me that they do have extensive experience in designing university campus:
https://www.elkus-manfredi.com/portfolio/
They like to use a lot of glass curtain walls and so I expect the Woodlawn Residential Commons will have that feature. I agree with @kaukauna that the tallest tower will have a drop dead gorgeous view of the lake and Obama Center.
Or they may just duplicate their Peninsula Chicago design and put it at 61st St… That would be fine for me too :).
https://www.elkus-manfredi.com/project/the-peninsula-chicago/
This is the first I’m hearing about the Rubenstein forum? What will this building be used for?
Is the benefactor David Rubenstein?
@sgopal2
Directly from https://architecture.uchicago.edu/locations/david_rubenstein_forum/
Rubenstein Forum to create vital space for collaboration
The facility will address a growing need across campus for a facility devoted to effective, creative and functional convening. Many events hosted by the University are held in other parts of Chicago due to the lack of space on campus. The Rubenstein Forum fulfills this critical need by addressing the University’s demand for additional flexible meeting space and inviting the University’s guest to experience the beautiful intellectual dynamic of the campus and Hyde Park.
The Rubenstein Forum also embodies elements that will support focused and successful meetings, such as reliable technology that is easy to use, amenities for convenient and quality foodservice, proximity to informal spaces for spontaneous breakouts with colleagues, and views to the outside.
The Rubenstein Forum is named for University Trustee and alumnus, David M. Rubenstein, JD’73, co-founder and co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, in recognition of his ongoing generosity to the University. The building will be situated next to the Harris School of Public Policy’s future Keller Center and across the Midway from Rockefeller Chapel.
@85bears46: thanks for the info. I got a chance to meet David Rubenstein a few months back. What a wonderful and charitable human being. I didn’t know he was a UC alum. Glad to see he is giving back.
@sgopal2 Two out of three founders of Carlyle Group are U of C alumni. William Conway got his MBA from GSB and David Rubenstein got his JD from U of C Law School.
Rubenstein mentioned that he got a scholarship to attend Law School, Since he had been beneficiary of kindness from strangers, he wanted to do the same for the next generation of U of C students. That is very nice of him.
So is the plan for Woodlawn to be open for the Fall of 2020? Is anything new opening since last fall, because I read some of the stories about the housing crunch last year?
^ They might be renting out more space for the returning students at Vue53 because the in-coming class size is even larger than last year’s record-breaking numbers and yield rate. D was invited to apply for off-campus housing but she loves her house so is staying put.
@BooBooBear #7
As far as I know , there is nothing new in terms of dorm construction since last fall. The housing crunch is going to get worse. Most recent estimate of Class of 2022 will top 1,800 students. That will be the biggest College class in the history of U of C. The Administration has already booked a lot of rooms at the commercial property Vue53 to relieve the situation.
There is some grand design/master plan at work that I can’t figure out. The College enrollment has been steadily increasing fro over 10 years :
https://registrar.uchicago.edu/page/end-quarter-statistical-report-booklets
Contrary to some observers infested with UCDS, increasing the class size probably would not do anything to raise the entry class statistics (and thereby “gaming” the USNWR ranking), . Had the Administration decided to just keep the The College enrollment at 2012 level, the yield would be the same but the admission rate would be much lower. Administration is now increasing the class size by around 100 students per year. Where is the end game? I don’t know. But the continual expansion of the size of The College would make Dean Boyer’s goal of housing the majority of College students on campus more difficult to achieve.
Current and proposed College Dorms Capacity (round to nearest ten)
BJ 310
Campus North 810
I-House 400 (estimate)
Max P 710
RGG 810
Snitchcook 150
Stoney 80
Woodlawn Residential Commons 1310
That will make a grand total of 3,770 by 2020. Total College size will be likely around 6,200 by then. That means only about 60% of the College students living on campus. That will be far short of the goal of keeping majority of students living on campus except in a very narrowly defined sense.
“Typical” upper floor seems to house about 32 residents per section in a mix of singles and doubles. Communal bathrooms along one side but look to be an easy walk for anyone from anywhere on the floor. What’s the pink area in the middle - lounge?
Having trouble making out what’s happening on the ground floor - is that where the apartments w/private bathrooms will be located? The large red area is probably the dining hall but the living spaces seem to be configured differently than on the upper floors.