Olympia Place

2018 Residential Architect Design Awards / Student Housing / Award

“It has a very residential feel, and in the context of Amherst, which is the quintessential college town, the gesture to the gabled roof is clever. I think the plan is exceptional—it looks like it would create a great sense of community.” —Dirk Denison

Olympia Place is a privately developed student housing project in Amherst, Mass., designed by Portland, Ore.–based Holst Architecture. The 99,426-square-foot complex provides 232 beds in 73 apartments adjacent to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus. The plan follows the lines of a traditional New England courtyard dormitory plan, but skews the placement of the outermost arms to match the irregularly shaped property lines and develop more dynamic outdoor spaces. The two courtyards—one public, one private—provide distinct gathering areas, with the private space stressing quiet through its birch trees and ferns.

The four- and five-story-tall gabled forms also reference the region’s traditional academic architecture, but are rendered in sleek contemporary materials: The parallel walls are clad in the same standing-seam metal as the roof, and only the ends of the gables using the more typical brick masonry. The standing-seam ribs and the narrow slot windows on the elevations emphasize the project’s overall vertical massing. The simple white and red palette reflects older regional architecture while not precisely mimicking historic forms.

The entry features a double-height common space that offers residents multiple fireplaces, study rooms, breakout areas, a lounge, and a fitness center—all readily accessible from the staffed front desk and offering views to exterior courtyards to the west and east. ost apartments are relatively large—three- and four-bedroom units with access to multiple exposures for natural light and ventilation are the norm. Circulation varies between single- and double-loaded corridors, with many units comprising entire floors of wings. Olympia Place meets LEED for Homes Midrise Gold standards, and its construction and building systems reduce energy consumption by almost 40 percent.

See the full list of winners of the 2018 Residential Architect Design Awards.

Project Credits
Project: Olympia Place, Amherst, Mass.
Client: Archipelago Investments
Design Architect: Holst Architecture, Portland . Kim Wilson, AIA, Dave Otte, AIA, John Holmes, AIA (partners); Drew Hastings, Heather Flegel, Lauren Sanchez (design staff); Mark Schmidt (associate); Lee Shradar (senior associate)
Architect of Record: DiMella Shaffer, Boston
Mechanical Engineer: Harry Grodsky & Co.
Electrical Engineer: Energy Electric
Plumbing Engineer: Gervais Plumbing & Heating
Structural Engineer: L.A. Fuess Partners
Civil Engineer: SVE Associates
Geotechnical Engineer: John Turner Consulting
General Contractor: Cutler Associates
Landscape Architect: Soren Deniord Design Studio
Lighting Designer: Biella Lighting Design
Size: 98,413 square feet
Cost: Withheld

Materials and Sources
Acoustical System: Kinetics (IsoMax w/Maxxon Acoustimat)
Appliances: Frigidaire
Building Management Systems/Services: GigXero Carpet: Shaw Contract (Embark)
Exterior Wall Systems: Turnkey Lumber (panelized wood framing)
Fabrics/Finishes: Knoll (acoustic panels)
Flooring: Parterre Flooring Systems
Furniture: Article Glass: Vitro (SolarBan 60)
HVAC: Trane (VRF air-source heat pumps)
Insulation: Rockwool
Masonry/Stone: Belden Brick
Metal: Englert
Millwork: Lanz Cabinets, ProCraft
Paints/Finishes: Benjamin Moore
Plumbing/Water System: Kohler
Roofing: Englert, Crocker Architectural
Windows/Curtainwalls/Doors: Kawneer (storefront), Paradigm Windows

From the May 2017 issue of ARCHITECT:

Traditional New England dormitories can be stern things—hulking masonry structures organized around a central entrance with row upon row of flanking wings. But when local developers Archipelago Investments engaged Portland, Ore.–based Holst (with Boston-based DiMella Shaffer as architect of record) to build a new, privately developed student housing complex between the University of Massachusetts and the town of Amherst, Mass., the architects had a more contemporary take on the form in mind.

The designers had to maximize the buildable area on an awkwardly six-sided, 45,284-square-foot site set into a hill. The building sits in a sprawling, wooded area that increasingly has become home to private student housing that serves four area schools. Holst partner Dave Otte, AIA, felt it was important to reference traditional dormitory forms of the region. Even so, “formal didn’t seem quite right,” he says. “Rectilinear is natural for urban sites. … We wanted to take a traditional form and do something with it.” That “something” involved inflecting the wings surrounding the central entrance block to create a front and rear courtyard.

The four- and five-story structure is capped with common gable forms, realized in a distinctive way: The wood frame building is clad mostly in white, standing-seam metal that makes the roof and walls appear as one continuous bent plane. Only the gabled ends receive the red brick masonry most often associated with New England institutional buildings. These employ precast brick sills and lintels with vertically oriented windows that provide yet another modern touch. The recessed openings emphasize the height and abstract nature of the composition. Otte recalls that an early study sketch for the project depicted these red gabled objects “floating” in a snowstorm, a memorable image that helped define the design intent.

Otte describes the client’s desire to “create spaces that are more hospitality-driven than dorm-like.” This resulted in a conscious effort to free up the middle of the complex on the first and second floors, where a double-height lounge becomes part of the entry sequence and a destination space for residents. The space sits at the center of the building, and faces the entrance on the west and a private courtyard for residents to the east. The custom railing system—which is deployed at the grand stair, the second floor balcony, and as a semi-permeable room divider—uses wood slats that play on the verticality of the trees in the courtyard.

The complex houses 72 units, with mostly three- and four-bedroom configurations, that have a total of 217 beds. The large units are another break with the traditional form of the dormitory, with many apartments occupying the full floor of entire wings. Most units enjoy multiple exposures, allowing cross ventilation. The plan varies from single- to double-loaded corridors, so many public areas on the upper floors have access to light and views overlooking the courtyards. Hardly stern and rarely hulking, Olympia Place makes the most of its landscape.

Project Credits
Project: Olympia Place, Amherst, Mass.
Client: Archipelago Investments
Design Architect: Holst, Portland, Ore.
Architect of Record: DiMella Shaffer, Boston
Structural Engineer: L.A. Fuess Partners
Mechanical Engineer: Harry Grodsky & Co.
Electrical Engineer: Energy Electric
Plumbing Engineer: Gervais Plumbing
Civil Engineer: SVE Associates
Geotechnical Engineer: John Turner Consulting
General Contractor: Cutler Associates
Landscape Architect: Soren deNiord Design Studio
Lighting Designer: Biella Lighting Design
Size: 98,413 square feet
Cost: Withheld