Design and development of student apartments

Abstract

The design for a group of student apartments near Indiana State University-Evansville, is the subject of this thesis effort. A thorough study of programatic needs and site conditions, coupled with a look at other developments throughout history, preceded the design development.A look at the existing master plan for the area and the academic core of the university, was the next step. A careful analization of the master plan for the academic core promoted some new ideas, while the possibility of new housing in the area suggested a new master plan for the entire area. After the development of several different schemes for the master plan, a final scheme was designed and proposed.Zeroing-in on the site nearest the university, a complete design-effort was made to master plan future housing. Again, after scores of schemes for the site, a clear direction emerged and was pursued.A major concept for the actual housing project was to utilize a courtyard idea which organized the living units into clusters. The arrangement gives the apartment dwellers identity with other persons in much the same way a typical dormitory would. The student (or other user) shares a common courtyard as well as common facilities, such as laundry and mail facilities.The living unit is arranged in such a way as to collect as much sun and wind for distribution throughout the unit. The main living room, therefore, acts as a plenum, collecting both sun and wind as well as people for distribution throughout the other spaces in the apartment.