New Jersey Institute of Technology Graduate & Undergraduate Housing

Design Collective teamed with The Michaels Organization for the new Graduate | Student Residence Hall at the western gateway to NJIT’s Newark campus.  The design is intentionally expressive of passive and active sustainable strategies, immersing students in a lifestyle aligned with NJIT’s technical leadership ethos.  

Using Passive House strategies and targeting LEED Gold, wind and solar studies informed orientation, massing, and facade treatment to analyze both high-rise and low-rise options.  Large shading roof-top solar arrays coupled with a co-gen mechanical system generate 100% of energy used on-site.  Panelized wall assemblies and prefabricated exterior cladding maximize air tightness and durability, while sunshades minimize common area solar gain.  A holistic SWM system uses at-grade cisterns for on-site irrigation, with overflow runnels to interactive micro bio-retention gardens, recharging urban groundwater and minimizing discharge.  500 bike spaces compliment 500 beds, with no student parking.  

The design retains the existing site’s historic school’s head building as the new hall’s two-story entry, locating the graduate business center within its upper levels.  A live-learn clubhouse with multi-purpose classrooms and integral soft-retail activates the street front, encouraging interaction between graduate and undergraduate residents.  The 6-story graduate apartment wing and 13 story undergraduate apartment/suite tower connect via a bridge anchored by a communal lounge on all levels.  The new residence embrace NJIT’s technology-centric history while emphatically informing the next generation’s environmentally-centric lifestyles.