Page 18 - College Planning & Management, January 2018

Facility Focus CAMPUS HOUSING
Rutgers University
Sojourner Truth Apartments at The Yard
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY’S new mixed-use residential com- munity, Sojourner Truth Apart-
ments at The Yard, is designed to support the university’s developmental goals for each student, providing apartment-style accommodations to foster individual independence and self-awareness in students preparing to transition to life post-college. Designed with unprec- edented levels of public access in support of this goal, the residential community has become a new social hub, a shared common ground at the College Avenue campus not only for students, faculty, and affiliates of the university, but also for New Brunswick, NJ, residents.
The project is located just off-campus
adjacent to the most historic parts of the Rutgers University College Avenue campus, with over 300 feet of frontage along College Avenue. It is the result of a partnership between Rutgers University and a non- profit development agency, New Brunswick Development Corporation (Devco), with Elkus Manfredi Architects as architect.
At 14 stories, the project includes
442 beds in 160 two-, three-, and four- person apartments in the upper 13 floors, plus a mixed-use indoor/outdoor ground floor with 8,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, a tech transfer collab- orative space, a 1,500-square-foot fitness facility, and open common rooms and ad- ministrative offices. The outdoor courtyard (“The Yard”) features a large video screen
that draws the community together for movies, sports, concerts, and social gather- ings, cultivating diversity and connection among students and the neighborhood. The first-floor common room is publicly accessible throughout the day for students and the surrounding community, with large airplane-hangar doors that open to The Yard in good weather to create a space for all to enjoy.
Certified LEED-NC Silver, the proj- ect’s sustainable elements include energy and water efficiency, construction using recycled materials, and operable floor-to- ceiling apartment windows that provide maximum exposure to natural light, natural ventilation, and reduced need for artificial heating/cooling use. CPM
18 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / JANUARY 2018
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