Village Dormitories
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Client Contact: James Brudvig, V.P. Finance and Administration

Project Size: 9 buildings, 186 beds, 68,000 sq. feet
Project Cost: $132 per sq. ft
Completion Date: January 2002
Architects: Ashokan Architecture and Planning, PLLC, Stone Ridge, New York
Landscape Architects: Olin Partnership, Philadelphia, PA
MEP Engineering: Novus Engineering, Delmar, New York
Civil Engineering: Morris Associates, Poughkeepsie, New York
General Contractors: Storm King Contracting Inc., Middletown, New York

Photo Credits: Peter Aaron/Esto

The Village Dormitories are a set of nine buildings located along a lively new pedestrian ‘street’ in a wooded section near the heart of the Bard Campus. These wood frame structures mark a departure from Bard’s previous masonry dormitory design types, and bring a more cost-effective, and ‘greener’ design approach to this eclectic campus. The dormitories were commissioned by Bard in order to replace a number of older buildings, as well as to accommodate modest recent growth in the student body.
The project combines two types of residences for 186 students: a larger plan dormitory with single and double rooms, and a suite or apartment-style building for older students. The three larger buildings house 32 students apiece with a two-story resident faculty apartment, a common room and kitchen, and a study lounge. The six smaller buildings provide four suites for four students. Each suite has a common room with a kitchenette, a double and two single rooms, and a bathroom.
The green elements of the project design are based upon common-sense economics rather than upon high-tech demonstrations of new possibilities. Still, they represent a significant new commitment at Bard toward looking at the ‘life-cycle’ costs of new buildings, where energy and maintenance often represent 75% of the total costs of a building. The entire village is heated and cooled with ground source technology, utilizing 40 wells beneath the new parking lot at the site. The building uses no electricity for domestic hot water, instead drawing from high-efficiency water-to-water heat pumps. Indoor lighting uses occupancy sensors in most rooms. The air gets frequently exchanged from the outdoors with heat-recovery units. And building materials were selected for low toxicity and for local resource extraction whenever possible.
The approach to the site represents some sensible green ideas as well. Storm water run-off is kept to a minimum by using bio-ponds for drainage---these utilize native, wet-loving vegetation which absorb moisture better than grass retention areas. Bike storage stations are planned throughout the site, and Bard’s Master Plan committed a precious wooded area near the center of the campus in order to discourage everyday automobile use by students.
The early reaction to the buildings, half of which were completed last summer, has been very favorable. Students appreciate the exciting community atmosphere of the dense ‘street’ layout, where a lot of socializing and reading takes place, as much as they do the green features of the project. They also particularly like the apartment style living, another first at Bard.
Ashokan Architecture and Planning has done a number of other projects at Bard College, including a new Film and Music Department complex (in design), and specializes in cost-effective, institutional design projects.