Ithaca, New York, USA

Designed by ikon.5 architects, the North Campus Residential Expansion (NCRE) at Cornell University is a massive, “green” student housing project providing 1,200 beds for first-year students and 800 beds for sophomore students, along with a 1,000-seat dining hall.

For its sustainable design, the project has been awarded an Honorable Mention at the 2023 American Architecture Awards from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

On two separate adjacent sites on Cornell’s North Campus, NCRE includes residential rooms, a dining hall, and collaborative study and learning spaces.

The residences are located in three- to five-story buildings that are organized around outdoor courtyards, encouraging social interaction and engagement with the adjacent campus.

A highly transparent ground floor also promotes interaction with the entire community. 

To further enhance the student experience, a 1,000-seat dining hall offers a variety of micro-restaurants, including 11 food platforms and four hydration stations.

The dining hall also has an interactive food lab with 24 teaching stations for both dining and academic classes.

Red and gray terracotta masonry walls with punched windows complement the neighboring North Campus buildings, acting as modern reinterpretations of the existing residential facilities.

At the building ends and corners, upper-level residential lounges are wrapped in a curtain wall, providing views of the campus and serving as visual beacons. 

The project is part of Cornell University’s prospect of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035.

Project: North Campus Residential Expansion Cornell University (NCRE )
Architects: ikon.5 architects
General Contractor: Welliver McGuire Inc.
Client: Cornell University
Photographers: Feinknopf Photography