Mayo and Drew house 60 students total, 44 in Mayo Smith and 16 in Charles Drew, which is host to the black culture house. Both dorms hold mostly singles and doubles, but Mayo Smith also features two split-level suites housing five students each.
“There were significant complications in both buildings,” Associate Director of Facilities and Director of Design and Construction Tom Davies said. “Both buildings had hidden structural issues that were not foreseeable. When we started to pull the buildings apart, we found that the original construction was less robust than one would expect. As such, the scope of structural enhancement was more extensive than anticipated.”
Work over the summer was completed smoothly, despite an unusually rainy August. The buildings’ envelopes had been completed, so the rain did not impact the schedule, Davies said.
According to Davies, both projects were completed on schedule and under budget. Some finishing touches were still being put in place, and students returning early had to be cautious of wet paint on handrails, as signs asked students to bear with the final stage of the renovations. Davies said the last-minute finish was “as expected.”
The Residential Master Plan is a campus-wide renovation project that began in 2002 with the conversion of Williston Hall from a classroom building to a seventh first-year dorm. The first stage of the plan was completed last fall with the opening of Charles Pratt Dorm. As a result, all first-years are now housed on the Freshman Quad, and all forced triples have been removed from first-year housing. Morris Pratt and Morrow Dormitories were also renovated during the first stage. Beginning in 2006 with Hamilton and Porter, in the second stage of the master plan, former fraternity houses have been fully renovated, two at a time.
As reported last February in The Student, the Mayo Ballroom was converted into three student rooms, and a small student lounge. Both dorms feature new kitchen and laundry rooms on the first floor, as well as new and recycled hardwood floors. “All building systems were completely replaced,” Davies said.
“I like it,” Charles Drew resident Eric NeSmith ’09 said while moving in earlier this week. “It looks really nice. They’re obviously still doing some work, but everything that’s done looks good.” NeSmith lived in Drew prior to the renovations and pointed out a couple of differences. “The rooms were definitely bigger before.” NeSmith said he had preferred the carpeted floors, finding them easier to maintain.
Both buildings underwent significant environmental improvements, as well. “The most obvious is the addition of solar thermal panels at Mayo Smith which will produce most of the hot water needed for the building’s residents,” Davies said. “Less obvious, but even more energy efficient improvements include heat-reclaiming exhaust systems which transfer heat out of the exhaust stream before the air is released into the atmosphere, occupancy sensors for lighting, high efficiency lighting and dramatically improved building insulation and other building envelope improvements.”
Work has already begun on Hitchcock and Seelye Houses, which are expected to reopen in fall 2009 after similar renovations. The Mayo Smith parking area will be available for student parking this year.
Hitchcock will be the first of the former fraternity houses to undergo significant expansion as part of its renovation plan. “Hitchcock will be expanded by about a third,” Davies said. “The building lends itself to an addition and the site can easily accommodate it. The Residential Master Plan anticipated this expansion, enabling more students to be in what is a most popular dorm, in nice singles. The amount of common space can easily support the added number of residents, as nearly all of the large social space on the first floor is being retained, and the design actually adds five more study lounge spaces throughout the building.”
The increased capacity at Hitchcock will help ease crowding while the social dorms are torn down and replaced as part of the East Campus reconfiguration project, still in early planning stages. “The existing social dorms are extremely space efficient, which is the reason for the level changes and very low ceilings in the bedrooms,” Davies said. “Replacing the beds one-for-one in that area would require considerably larger buildings than currently are located there.”
Hitchcock and Seelye will also feature similar energy improvements to those seen at Drew and Mayo. “The experience at Mayo is directly influencing the design at Hitchcock, which will feature a very significant solar thermal system that will supply the vast majority of the heating requirements for this mid-sized dorm.”
Planning for the East Campus Reconfiguration is expected to begin in earnest later this year, Davies said. “At this time, there is not a defined next dorm in the design process to follow Hitchcock and Seelye. The College is now in a significant planning stage, including the East Campus plan, the Academic Facilities plan, Merrill Sciences planning and Library planning,” he said. “As these planning efforts come into focus and dove-tail, the next design and construction projects will emerge.” Davies expected the planning to continue through much of this academic year.