Wabash College Martindale Hall and Residential Life District

Project Details

Project Description

Wabash College is transforming a housing inventory built more than 50 years ago by significantly elevating the quality and quantity of current student living environments, while helping the college position itself competitively for a planned increase in enrollment.

In August 2013, Wabash College engaged Shepley Bulfinch, a national architecture firm known for design excellence and innovation with offices in Boston, Houston and Phoenix, to produce a campus master plan and create a phased and flexible planning approach for addressing the immediate need for updating on-campus housing. The completed master plan created a contemporary vision for the 184-year-old campus as a whole and developed a strategy for residential development and reuse.

In 2016, Shepley Bulfinch completed 22,500 SF of renovations to Martindale Hall and 49,200 SF of new construction on the Residential Life District at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The six new buildings and 136 new beds have increased housing capacity on campus by 25% and the renovated residence hall has transformed student life at the nationally respected liberal arts school.

Each of the phased housing projects responds to its immediate campus environment and is composed of multiple building scales that harmonize with the existing Wabash campus fabric. Exterior materials include limestone, brick, metal and glass and are a modern interpretation of the existing campus structures. The building siting creates outdoor spaces promoting interaction, multi-use lawns, and areas that blend the traditional social divide between indoor and outdoor spaces. Common areas were located next to high-density traffic areas to encourage interaction.

West Campus Residential District
49,200 SF New Construction

Six new buildings with 136 beds have been constructed in the Residential Life District. Two-story townhomes face a residential street and are flanked by traditional residential halls, which open onto the campus lawn. A series of gathering spaces guide residents from the privacy of the dorm rooms to progressively more public living rooms, which in turn connect to outdoor gathering plaza, paths and green spaces nestled around the individual buildings. Natural light-filled gathering spaces are located at the main entrances of each building to encourage chance interactions.

The interior palate blends exterior finish materials with warm wood and welcoming colors to extend the transition from exterior to interior into the building, increasing opportunities for students to interact, gather and connect on the west side of the campus. A metal stair featuring wood treads and railings that, over time, will develop a patina of use similar to other wood tread stairs on campus, connecting past, present and future students in the story of Wabash.

Martindale Hall
22,500 SF Renovation

Martindale Hall is Wabash’s largest residence hall and had not been updated since its original construction in 1961. The building did not meet ADA requirements and its interconnected suites were inefficiently organized. The newly renovated five-story Martindale Hall provides updated room types to meet the demands of today’s college students. While there is a dining hall on campus, some units have kitchenettes to supplement the campus-wide food offerings. The showcase moment of the building is a new glass entrance leading into a two-story common area with a fireplace. The building abuts the neighboring historic campus arboretum and the glass entry fosters an indoor/outdoor experience which connects students with the campus environment.

The common area spaces feature furniture for different types of activity, such as meeting, gathering and studying, and styles include durable yet comfortable furniture with a clean modern aesthetic. A mixture of high and low pieces includes modular furniture to encourage one-on-one and group socializing. A moveable media wall in the Living Room provides flexibility for different activities within the space, and a two-story light-colored limestone fireplace anchors the surrounding open space.

The interior finish palette consists of natural “changing of the season” hues, inspired by the building’s connection to the arboretum. Each level is identified with a different accent color, and the wood trim on walls and ceilings creates a warm and welcoming entry. Organic patterns are present in the carpet and wood-grained porcelain tile on the first floor and garden-level floors. The lighting is soft and warm, creating a comforting, home-like ambiance.