UConn Undergraduate Village

Design Collective and Greystar teamed for the new 1,000 bed campus-edge village at UConn’s main Storrs campus.  With no given site, the team chose to replace outdated 1960’s housing closest to campus’ commercial core within easy walking distance to campus.  Accommodating phasing needs, the 382 bed “urban” phase 1 reinforces the street edges closest to the town center, while the 615 bed “natural” phase 2 defines a village quad integrated with the adjacent Moss Sanctuary conservation area.  Straddling the towns’ primary street, together these phases create the prominent town gateway from the East. 

Inspired by the campus’ formal organization juxtaposed to the immediate untamed forested landscape, the design solution shows a reverence for and integration with the landscape.  Phase 2’s housing wings are strategically located to minimize cut and fill on a steeply sloping hill, while retaining 95% of on-site trees.  2 housing wings rest on each of 2 cleared plateaus split by a 75’ tall mature tree-line running the spine of the site.  As the buildings step down the hillside, this tree-lined quad is framed from the entry plaza, programmed with clubhouse and fitness, and engaged with both indoor and outdoor tiered classrooms nestled into the existing hillside. 

The design’s amenities, lounges, and vertical circulation provide constant views and connections to nature, inviting students to lead a nature-centric lifestyle with direct access to both formal and informal spaces within the landscape.