Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA
PBDW Architects and Towers | Golde’s Fellows Hall at Williams College is the first Net-Zero energy campus that centers around student well-being, with an emphasis on natural light, connection to nature, and balancing privacy with a sense of community.
Due to its sustainable nature and uniqueness, Fellows Hall at Williams College has won a 2022 Green Good Design Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
“Bedrooms were cramped, dark, and lacked adequate ventilation, and bathrooms were overcrowded. The number of rooms was insufficient to accommodate all enrolled students, and privacy was frequently compromised,” Losonczy elaborates.
“The dorm is organized into three distinct volumes to create a more residential scale,” explains Losonczy, noting the double-height core’s open-plan lobby, central stair, and interconnected lounges flanked by two wings that house 14 pairs of single-occupancy rooms with shared baths and vestibules.
Needs for privacy and gender division “were addressed through the overall configuration of the asymmetric wings, which were also vertically offset to follow the slope of the site,” she adds.
Sustainability was a priority, translating to a roof supporting solar cells, geothermal wells, and VRF heat pumps, but so was balancing that green program with architecture that promotes wellness and socializing.
Fellows Hall serves the Center for Development Economics (CDE) program, an accelerated graduate course for mid-career professionals from developing countries.
CDE students, all of whom hail from lower- and middle-income countries, are often unaccustomed to the harsh New England climate, and for some, separation of genders is the cultural norm.
PBDW put such concerns front and center.
The building shares a prominent site at the campus entrance with historic Saint Anthony Hall, the academic home of the CDE.
The dorm is organized into three distinct volumes to create a more residential scale: an iconic double-height central commons and two asymmetric wings that house paired single-occupancy rooms.
The 2-story north-south facing wings optimize daylight while minimizing heat gain. Triple-glazed operable windows offer expansive views of the surrounding landscape, inviting students to step outdoors. Daylight modeling determined the exact orientation of each dorm wing and ideal window areas. Glazing on east-west facades was limited.
A balanced 22% window-to-wall ratio contributes to the thermal comfort and energy efficiency of the building. The predominantly wood-framed structure decreases the embodied carbon of the dorm.
Multi-level student lounges intersect with the central, open stair, minimizing the built area while providing a range of opportunities for social interaction. Earth-themed interior finishes create warmth.
On the exterior, a restrained materials palette of variegated brick cladding, light-colored metal panels, and low-maintenance acetylated wood siding draws inspiration from Saint Anthony Hall, helping to harmonize the two buildings.
The expanses of brick on the super-insulated façade are interrupted by the introduction of vertical joints that demarcate each room as a visible module on the exterior, helping to scale down the multi-unit housing to a more intimate residential scale.
The dorm is fully electric. The PV-cell supporting roof, required to achieve net-zero energy, was accentuated to evoke a sheltering feeling of “home” for international students, far from their own families.
Heating and cooling are provided via ground-source heat pumps supported by geothermal wells.
Rooms feature LED lighting, occupancy sensors, and efficient valence units. The super-insulated brick-clad envelope is designed to rigorous Passive House standards.
Fellows Hall mirrors the angular geometry of Saint Anthony Hall, creating a new courtyard space between the two buildings and unifying them into a mini-CDE campus.
The new courtyard, ecologically landscaped with rain gardens, native plants, ornamental trees, and shrubs attractive to birds and butterflies, encourages interaction with CDE students and enhances the campus experience for the entire Williams community.
Project: Fellows Hall at Williams College
Architects: PBDW Architects
Design Team: Anne Holford-Smith, Serena Losonczy, and Rena Mande
Landscape Architects: Towers | Golde
Sustainability Consultant: Atelier Ten
Client: Williams College
Photographers: Francis Dzikowski
