Project Description
Jacoby Architects, as a part of a design-build team with Gramoll Construction and Potter Lawson, designed this UofU honors student housing for the Honors College at the University of Utah. This new facility contains 310 bedrooms, various study lounges, seminar rooms, the “Big Ideas” Innovation Center, faculty offices, student workroom, library and media room, a multi-purpose room, convenience store and dining area, interior bicycle storage, and a laundry facility. The concept of a forum (a public gathering space that facilitates discussion, engagement, and sharing of ideas) became the theme for creating a community focal point and a place where the students and faculty could challenge one another, inspire one another, share information, and, overall, enhance the academic environment. One of the key elements in creating a forum, in the classical sense, is an arrangement of columns or towers. Accordingly, the building design uses a group of carefully placed towers to mark community spaces within the building.