Residence Hall
Campus Life with Views of Lake Michigan
The resident life experience at Northwestern University underwent a revitalization in 2017 to bring it up to the expectations of today’s student and meet the quality of the institution’s academic offerings. SNHA served as architect of record on the Schapiro Hall project, a 450-bed, seven-story, comfortable live/work space that was the first new construction on Northwestern’s housing master plan. Two four-bed suite types are the building blocks for the design. Both have in-suite bathrooms, one has two doubles bedrooms and the other four singles bedrooms.
Schapiro Hall replaced a series of aging residence halls, once used as military barracks during World War II.
While the building is 7-stories, its 4-story massing on the West elevation suggests a smaller, more residential scale.
Sleeping rooms are intentionally small and common spaces generous to encourage students out of their rooms. Double height lounge spaces that alternate floors at each end of the building’s spine provide variety and flexibility. The architecture of the new residence hall takes its cues from the forms and materials of nearby residence halls. Four-story wings mediate the change in height from existing student housing to the main mass of the new building.