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For Vanderbilt graduate students, finding affordable housing in Nashville can be a challenge. The city’s rental costs have soared in recent years, and low-rise neighborhoods off campus are rapidly being transformed into high-rise buildings.
To meet this need, Valerio Dewalt Train (VDT) recently completed The Broadview, the university’s first graduate student (as well as faculty and young professionals) residence. The project presents a budget-friendly design in an expensive real estate market. Smart design decisions throughout the building ensure tenant costs are kept to a minimum.
Prior to breaking ground, market research firm Brailsford & Dunlavey sent out a survey to all 4,600 Vanderbilt graduate students, with 1,800 respondents. The results yielded several issues that the new student housing was designed to address: affordability, in-unit privacy and community-oriented retail options.
According to the survey results, studios and one-bedroom apartments are more popular than two-bedroom units, as are smaller units with lower rents. VDT took note of this feedback and incorporated it into the realized floor plan. Additionally, the study found that a 15% drop in rents increases demand by 74%.
VDT also conducted its own research before embarking on the project. “During the competition phase, members of the design team “camped out” at Vanderbilt to explore the campus, focusing on the off-campus area across 21st Avenue where the construction site is located, and conducted interviews through a series of social media interviews with people we met through social media. graduate students. One-on-one meetings,” VDT told one.
Due to its commitment to low-cost design, VDT chose to use a prefabricated modular cold-formed steel frame. It’s a cheaper alternative to post-tensioned concrete frames and can be constructed faster, according to the architects, and also looks better. Similar to another project the firm completed in Denver, the architects used brick as the cladding material because the prefabricated steel frame had proven capable of withstanding heavy masonry loads.
Broadview occupies a U-shaped site and consists of two adjacent plots, each with different height limits of 11 and 7 storeys respectively. The shape of the building forms a courtyard facing the campus.
Black brick outlines the ground floor, framing large windows and various entry points. Most of the building’s surfaces are red field bricks, accented with thin horizontal black brick stripes that wrap the facade and visually break up the volume. These brick stripes align with windows and mullions, creating a criss-crossing grid pattern on every building surface. The use of brick is a nod to the historic Vanderbilt University campus, where many buildings feature brick exteriors.
Windows facing the building are designed on a human scale. Fenestrations and corner towers (or “lantern lounges” on the upper floors) also promote a series of grids throughout the structure. They depict different views of campus buildings and university streetscapes. Inside there are public spaces for residents.
“We clustered the windows together to reinforce the importance of the grid. Our goal was that in people’s minds the windows are the height of a person,” explains VDT. “Through the grid and dense windows, one gets the impression that the building is only half its actual height.”
Single-user bathrooms, rather than the shared restrooms traditionally found in dormitory-style living, meet the need for privacy. A grocery store and coffee shop operated by local vendors provide tenants with needed community-oriented retail options.
To address sustainability issues, VDT and design consultant Atelier Ten found ways to achieve the university’s lofty goal of an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) (energy consumption per square foot per year) of 28. As background, ASHRAE benchmarks require a score of 65 or lower. Energy costs are slashed on everything from appliances to the building envelope and HVAC. The final score was 36 points, and the architect explained that reducing it to 28 points would require the use of off-site solar panels.
“Working with the university, the team was able to reduce the EUI from 36 to 28, requiring the addition of off-site solar to the analysis,” said the architects. “This would have added legal complexity to the project, and the alternatives would have been very costly. High. With an EUI of 36, the reduction in utility costs per pupil contributes significantly to the target of a 15% reduction in rents,” added the architects, indicating another option for decision-making to minimize tenant costs. way.
“Many of the architectural initiatives are based on human factors, modern messaging and background materials that create unexpected sculptural effects,” said VDT.
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