The design-build team of Hensel Phelps and Mithun has won the $98m campus housing expansion project for undergraduate students from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), in the US.
The new 215,000ft² UCI Middle Earth Expansion project will be carried out in two phases.
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In the first phase, a new student housing building on the site of Brandywine Commons and Brandywine Student Center buildings will be demolished.
The second phase will see the renovation of Pippin Commons.
The project involves building housing for approximately 494 students, as well as a new dining facility, spaces for amenity, and classrooms.
Last year, the firms’ design-build team completed the construction of Mesa Court Towers on the UCI campus for freshman student housing.
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By GlobalDataHensel Phelps operations manager Vitas Rugienius said: “UCI is a big proponent of design-build and embraces the team-collaborative atmosphere. Through this delivery method, we will be able to control budget and schedule."
The new project includes two five-storey residential towers emerging from a two-storey podium base, and space called Link Lounge for socialising, media-viewing, group kitchen activities, and laundry facilities.
Mithun interior designer lead Elizabeth MacPherson said: "Our new project addition to the Middle Earth community has the rare opportunity to create a new living and learning heart in this neighbourhood for first-year students.
“The rich mixture of academic, residential and dining spaces promises to be one of the most popular places on campus to build community."
Aimed at aiding the UCI campus in achieving its carbon neutrality goal by 2025, the Middle Earth Expansion project’s design focuses on sustainability.
The project will feature rooftop solar heat collectors to reduce the amount of energy needed for hot water, and photovoltaics that are capable of generating 50kW kVA of renewable energy.
Image: The Hensel Phelps | Mithun team will kick off the University of California, Irvine (UCI), US, Middle Earth Expansion Student Housing project in June. Photo: courtesy of Plompmozes.
