Precedent Analysis

     On the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a lack of housing was creating an issue for graduate students. Harvard has the goal to house 50 percent of its graduate, professional and doctoral students. The school approached architect-designer Kyu Sung Woo to help to alleviate this problem by creating a dormitory specifically targeting graduates. Just recently built at 10 Akron Street, Kyu Sung Woo's building was designed to meet LEED Gold standards in an aesthetically pleasing and fully functional way.
     With around fourteen thousand graduate students attending the school, it is obvious that not all of them would be living on campus. The dormitory of Kyu Sung Woo accommodates up to two hundred fifteen students. Included are thirty different suite types for the students, a faculty director's suite, a fitness room, study lounges, a multipurpose room, a garage, and a courtyard. The building is located beside the Charles River, offering a peaceful and beautiful view from many of the rooms inside.
     For his design, Woo built a large, brick block that sits precariously on a smaller, wood-veneered base. The windows of the building are arranged in an irregular pattern, with many of them protruding from the surface.  The 115,000 square foot building contains regionally-sourced siding with recycled content, bamboo flooring and wall paneling, and low-VOC finishes. Also, through its design and engineering, the building's systems use a minimum of energy.  Public spaces, like two-story study lounges, are filled with warm tones that make a comfortable learning environment and promote sociability. 
     Outside the building is a garden designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates which utilizes plants native to New England.  This garden connects a courtyard to the riverfront terrace.  Though the L-shaped building is very unique in its presence, it still maintains an appropriate scale for Cambridge's other riverside houses.