University of Denver Opens Residence Hall Designed to Keep Upperclassmen on Campus

    DENVER, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The University of Denver is
 giving juniors and seniors a reason to stay on campus. On Aug. 21, the
 University officially opened Nagel Hall, a 150,000-square-foot, five-story,
 environmentally-friendly residence hall with 356 beds.
 
     The new facility not only provides much needed space and modernizes the
 University's housing stock, but was purposefully designed to encourage
 upperclassmen to remain on campus after they complete the two-year
 residency requirement.
 
     The first three floors of Nagel Hall will house sophomores in
 four-person suites with two bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The fourth and
 fifth floors will have apartment units for juniors and seniors. These
 fully-furnished apartments will include a kitchen, living room and four
 single bedrooms.
 
     "Having a mixture of sophomores, juniors and seniors together helps
 diversify the campus," says Mike Furno, associate director of housing
 operations. "Upperclassmen have experience, maturity and an academic focus
 that contributes a richness to the campus community."
 
     The building features a ground-floor food court offering quick, anytime
 dining options, multiple lounges and study rooms, common-area kitchens,
 laundry facilities, a billiards and video game room and an outdoor dining
 plaza. Nagel Hall's front desk is staffed 24/7 and electronic security
 access is required for both apartment and bedroom entry. On the upper
 floors, juniors and seniors will enjoy an expansive view of the mountains,
 Denver skyline and DU campus.
 
     DU Trustee Ralph Nagel and his wife, Trish, contributed $4 million to
 spearhead the project, which cost a total of $39.8 million. Ralph Nagel, an
 accomplished artist, also contributed works from his own collection to be
 displayed throughout the building. At his request, a special residential
 room with studio space has been built for an artist-in-residence program
 currently being developed in cooperation with the School of Art and Art
 History.
 
     To lessen the structure's environmental impact, architects have
 incorporated an energy efficient heating-and-cooling system, a copper roof
 made of 90 percent recycled materials, low water-use faucets, dual-flush
 toilets and low-VOC paint and carpet glues. The University's signature
 structural masonry, which is designed to last well beyond 100 years, was
 created using regionally-sourced bricks. The project's general contractor,
 GH Phipps Construction, recycled the construction debris, diverting as much
 as 75 percent from landfills. The University has submitted the project to
 the U.S. Green Building Council for consideration for LEED (Leadership in
 Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification.
 
     University Architect Mark Rodgers took great care to design a building
 that not only fits into the surrounding physical landscape, but serves as
 an open, central point of activity on campus. In addition to first- and
 second-year students and upperclassmen, Nagel Hall will also house academic
 research space, offices and classrooms for the Department of Psychology and
 classrooms for the Center for Teaching and Learning.
 
     "Nagel Hall is meant to be a building like Grand Central Station, a
 crossing point of campus," he says. "It's designed to be much more than a
 place where people sleep."
 
     The University of Denver (www.du.edu), the oldest private university in
 the Rocky Mountain region, enrolls approximately 11,117 students in its
 undergraduate and graduate programs. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the
 University of Denver as a Research University with high research activity.
 
 
 

SOURCE University of Denver