Vassar Street Undergraduate Residence Hall

Construction Continues for MIT's Upcoming Vassar Street Residence Hall

Construction is ongoing for MIT's upcoming residence hall at 121-169 Vassar Street in Cambridge. The project will contain 450 new dormitory beds for undergraduate students with 16 apartments for graduate resident tutors and faculty members. The 156,000 square feet building will also house shared community space and a dining hall, along with ample bike parking. Outside the building, a tree-filled entry courtyard and a plaza area will provide green space and gathering opportunities. Target completion data is Fall 2020. 

Facade Install Begins for MIT’s Vassar Street Residence Hall

Facade install has kicked off for MIT’s new residence hall located along Vassar Street just outside Central Square in Cambridge. The project will contain 450 beds for undergraduate students along with 16 apartments for graduate resident tutors and faculty members. The 156,000 square foot building will also house shared community space and a dining hall, along with ample bike parking.

The building has been designed to meet LEED Gold standards, and Eversource is providing energy efficiency solutions for the project. Eversource is supporting the construction of this highly efficient student residence hall through incentive payments for beyond-code technologies as well as third-party technical input during the design process. Even though this facility is fed from a central plant, considerable energy savings were achieved through improvements to fenestration selection, the lighting design, HVAC controls, and optimized energy recovery systems. The technical review process uncovered mid-design phase assumptions that would have significantly over-ventilated the residential portions of the facility. Eversource’s feedback led to a simplification of the ventilation systems, a reduction in lifetime energy use, and reduced construction costs. Construction is expected to be completed in time for the Fall 2020 semester.

Construction Continues for MIT's New Residence Hall

Structural steel framing is ongoing for MIT's upcoming Vassar Street Residence Hall. The project will add 450 new dormitory beds. Rooms will be arranged in clusters of 35 students in a mix of singles and doubles with shared open spaces. Outside the building, a tree-filled entry courtyard and a plaza area will provide green space and gathering opportunities. Target completion date is Fall 2020.

Framing Ongoing for MIT's Upcoming Undergraduate Dorm

Framing is well underway for MIT's upcoming undergraduate dorm along Vassar Street just a few blocks from Central Square in Cambridge. The 155,000 square foot project will feature 450 new student beds along with a dining hall and varied community spaces. Outside the building, new community and private green space will be created. Construction is set to be complete in Fall 2020.

Foundation Work Underway for New MIT Residence Hall

Foundation work is underway for MIT's upcoming 5-story, residence hall along Vassar Street.  The 156K sf building will contain 450 beds for undergraduate students, in addition to 16 apartments for faculty and staff.  Student amenities within the building are set to include meeting rooms, lounges, and a dining hall. There will also be ample green space throughout including a public entry courtyard and more private residents only plaza.

Construction is expected to be complete in Fall 2020.

MIT begins construction of 450-bed undergraduate residence hall

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has begun construction of its’ new 450-bed, 156,000-square-foot undergraduate student residence hall on Vassar Street. The building is expected to open by Fall 2020, and will replace the former West Garage parking facility and an adjacent surface parking lot. Site-enabling activities including utility relocation began last September, and demolition of the West Garage began in late January. Completion of demolition is expected by April, at which point construction of the residence hall’s foundation, which will consist of precast concrete piles, will begin. Vertical construction of the five-story residence hall is expected to commence this Fall.

The 450-bed residence hall will house a mix of first-year and upper-class students. Additionally, 12 apartments will be located on site housing graduate resident tutors, and four apartments will be constructed to accommodate staff members including a faculty head of house, an associate faculty head of house, an area director and a visiting scholar. A variety of community spaces will be provided on site, including a 225-seat residential dining facility with a communal kitchen, an avenue of study lounges and other common spaces, a private courtyard and a maker space area. The residence hall will be built to LEED Gold sustainability specifications. 243 long-term and 34-short-term bicycle parking spaces will be provided; there will be no vehicle parking on site.

MIT proposes 450-bed undergraduate residence hall in Cambridge

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) proposes to construct a new, 450-bed undergraduate student residence hall on Vassar Street, near the intersection with Massachusetts Avenue. The hall would include single and double rooms, arranged in clusters of 35 to 38 students with one graduate resident tutor per cluster. A variety of amenity spaces would be spread throughout the hall, including lounges, meeting rooms, music rooms, flexible spaces and a dining hall.

MIT’s new hall would allow the university to renovate other student residences and modernize its’ existing housing stock by providing an added supply of on-campus beds. The hall would also allow MIT to accommodate an increased number of students on campus, and would better connect the campus’ east and west ends by replacing an existing surface parking lot and parking garage with a modern building consisting of contrasting colors, a patterned brick exterior and new greenery. Demolition of the parking garage is slated to take place in early 2018. Pending city approval, the hall would open in Fall 2020. MIT has filed plans for the proposed hall with the City of Cambridge, who is now reviewing the project.