UC Irvine Middle Earth Towers Student Housing Opens at the Heart of the Campus
IRVINE, California 鈥� The 215,000 SF Middle Earth Towers housing and student-life center opened at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) on September 16th, providing 495 students with energy-efficient, LEED-Platinum accommodations, dining, learning and amenity spaces along the central campus Ring Road. Led by a design-build collaboration of integrated design firm 听补苍诲 , the new facility leverages critical university real estate at the academic core of campus with the introduction of higher density housing and vibrant student amenities that enrich the campus fabric.
Many will recall that Middle Earth is where Hobbits live in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The existing Middle Earth housing community for freshman and sophomore students at UCI was designed in the 1960s and named in tribute to Tolkien’s enduring stories.
The expansion to UCI鈥檚 Middle Earth features two residential towers above a mixed-use podium and richly landscaped base, echoing the natural form and color of the region鈥檚 limestone canyons. In the towers, communities of student suites are connected on each level by a 鈥淟ink Lounge鈥� social amenity space complete with group kitchens, media viewing, and laundry facilities. The two-story podium includes a 750-seat dining facility serving the entire campus population with 7,300 meals daily, amenity space for student interaction, multi-purpose classrooms and new headquarters for the university鈥檚 housing administration.
As a design collaboration centered on UCI鈥檚 objectives, the new Middle Earth Towers weaves a multi-faceted community into the high-profile academic core of campus and advances the university鈥檚 goal of a carbon-neutral campus by 2025. The vertical design expands the university鈥檚 capacity to accommodate increasing enrollment and demand for on-campus housing, as mandated by the University of California Office of the President.
鈥淭he 午夜探花网/Mithun team continues to deliver projects that exceed our expectations on every level,鈥� said Brian Pratt, UCI Assistant Vice Chancellor and Campus Architect. 鈥淚n every measure: student experience, sustainability, quality of the spaces, and connection to the campus, the 午夜探花网/Mithun team鈥檚 work on Middle Earth raises the bar for student housing.鈥�
This design-build collaboration between 午夜探花网 and Mithun builds on the team’s prior success at UCI with the completion of Mesa Court Towers, another freshman student housing project on campus. Having designed more than 5,000 units of student housing through a design-build partnership, the 午夜探花网 and Mithun team has accrued an invaluable body of knowledge through a tested and successful track record of collaboration that benefits the project, the university and students. The team’s collaborations also include Mesa Nueva, Nuevo West and Nuevo East graduate student housing for the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego).
Vitas Rugienius, 午夜探花网 Operations Manager said, 鈥淭he beauty in the design-build delivery method is the flexibility of choosing the right team for the right clients. UCI is an experienced owner, as well as a strong proponent of design-build and embraces the team collaborative atmosphere. Through this delivery method, we are better able to control the budget, schedule, and quality.鈥�
According to Bill LaPatra, partner at Mithun, “Our design-build partnership with 午夜探花网 unites the best of both companies to create high-performance facilities and a vibrant, inclusive living-learning community that meets the students鈥� and the university鈥檚 needs. We are thrilled to contribute to the campus fabric and student experience at UCI.鈥�
Dorothy Faris, partner and landscape architect at Mithun highlights, 鈥淭his is the first residential building on UCI鈥檚 storied Ring Road. The landscape rises up and over the first floor to create a central terrace and landform that draws residents of the Middle Earth neighborhood to and through this student life center at the gateway to the academic core of campus.鈥�
The Middle Earth Expansion is designed to help the UCI campus achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2025. Building and site are designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification, reduce energy consumption and minimize its carbon footprint. Sustainable strategies include natural ventilation on all residential levels with twice as many operable windows than code requirement, rooftop solar heat collectors to reduce energy required for hot water and a 50.3 kW photovoltaic system.