Rice University, North College Redevelopment

Rice University, North College Redevelopment

Houston, Texas, USA, 2009 Enriching the campus with two new colleges

Rice University in Houston, Texas was established in 1913 and has been carefully developed as a highly consistent collection of finely detailed brick buildings, set amongst a rich environment of mature oak trees.  Within this campus, two new colleges have been built, with a total of approximately 300 rooms, housing up to 500 students.

The Rice McMurtry College and Duncan College comprise of two 5-storey residential dormitories, with approximately 115,000 total sq ft in each College.  Each College has its own dining hall, known as the Commons, as well as a 2-storey residence to house the Master of each College.

The kitchen and servery areas, which are placed centrally between the dormitory buildings and the Commons, are shared by both Colleges.

The buildings are designed as two quadrangles, which preserve and enhance the existing landscape and which are linked throughout by shaded arcades, creating two new communities for the University. The proposed brick facades reflect the rich character of existing brick buildings on the Campus.

We worked with Virginia based firm Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas, who were the Architect of Record on this project.