University of Miami Centennial Village

Project Details

Project Description

With a campus architecture that creates a magnetic destination and compelling home for first year students, VMDO won the design competition for the University of Miami’s Centennial Village. Featuring 522,000 square feet of living-learning residential space on Lake Osceola, the iconic center of campus, Centennial Village fulfills the vision for a visually stunning and programmatically complete first year residential community at the University of Miami. Attracting and engaging top students through an enhanced residential profile, Centennial Village enriches the first year experience through programming and architecture designed to foster academic, social, and community relationships as well as interaction with live-in faculty and residence life staff.

Part of an ambitious, multi-phased housing plan, Centennial Village builds on efforts to re-define what it means to live, learn, work, and meet at the University of Miami. VMDO was selected as the winning designer from a pool of invited applicants. Clear in concept, refined in detail, and innovative in performance, the design of Centennial Village is the next bold step in the campus’s development A phased schedule is in place, with the first phase of Centennial Village planned for opening in fall 2026. VMDO is teamed with Miami-based Zysocvich Architects to deliver the project.

Centennial Village creates a sense of community at multiple levels, starting with 1,725 beds of student housing and progressing to the scale of the floor, building, village, and campus. Centennial Village’s four Residential Colleges reach out to campus, building on the existing architectural context and connecting the campus together, while envisioning the entire south side of Lake Osceola as a new and dynamic center of student life. The Residential Colleges are distinguishable as four buildings, offering a straightforward sense of orientation and identity for students that makes a lasting impression. Sited next to a new Canal Walk that connects residential, academic, dining, and pedestrian spaces along a shared waterfront, the four Residential Colleges create a village – a community of citizenship where learning is integral to life.

The architectural expression of Centennial Village draws inspiration from the rich modernism of campus, the local and international style and culture of Miami, and the institutional aspiration of hemispheric leadership. Signature porches, arcades, and breezeways on campus form architectural responses that enjoy the natural environment while addressing tropical temperature, humidity, and glare. Exterior wall materials provide a cohesive and consistent character that unifies the campus visually. The proposed design for Centennial Village builds on this context to forge an effortless and authentic campus fit.

Studies show that students who live on campus perform better academically, graduate at an accelerated pace, and rate their college experiences better than those who live off campus. Architecture’s role in creating a sense of home is critical to supporting each student’s physical and mental health. The proposed design of Centennial Village offers respite through physical and visual connections to nature and through the incorporation of natural materials and colors. The creation of an active pedestrian landscape that brings the outdoors in through views and daylighting will help increase student alertness levels, decrease absenteeism, and support better sleep quality and opportunities for movement. Light amount and quality, acoustic design, and attention to temperature and humidity will create the right conditions that make residents feel comfortable and at home.

This project is seeking WELL Version 2 Certification: the first campus residential complex to register for this sustainability certification.