In Review

A new residence hall that’s rising near Fauver Stadium is scheduled to open in time for this fall’s arrival of the Class of 2021.

The 72,000-square-foot building, named Genesee Hall, overlooks the University’s Brian F. Prince Athletic Complex. Featuring four residential floors for about 150 freshman students, the building will also include meeting rooms for study groups and workshops, a new locker room facility, and training rooms for athletics programs.

The new building follows O’Brien Hall, completed in 2012, as the newest undergraduate residence to be built on the River Campus since 1968.

The facility’s top four floors of residential space will feature single and double bedrooms; the main level will be dedicated to academic and student life services with meeting rooms and offices.

In the residential space, architects designed a bathroom area in the center of each floor with six individual, fully equipped bathrooms—each pod containing a private shower, sink, and toilet.

Additionally, the building will include three single bedrooms with attached handicapped-accessible bathrooms in compliance with standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The lower, field level of the building, called the Varsity House, will feature new locker rooms for men’s and women’s outdoor athletics teams as well as sports medicine and team equipment rooms.

The project is targeting LEED Silver (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) designation.

Among the sustainable features of the building are water-efficient fixtures in key areas, designed to reduce water usage by 45 percent, and the implementation of an energy model to address the challenge of providing an abundance of fresh air to a variety of spaces, such as the locker rooms.

The concept for the project is by Ayers Saint Gross, Architects and Planners. The design build team is the Pike Company in association with SWBR Architects.