Designed as a residential village to attract upper class students, the new residence halls at Lewis & Clark College provide a highly desired sense of community and privacy in a forested setting. The building masses were broken up in a relaxed, informal manner to provide a more residential scale. The desire to have these new buildings be of long–lasting and durable nature in both their design and operations helped guide the design team toward appropriate green solutions. The buildings have been sited using passive–solar strategies to reduce energy needs. Interior materials and finishes were selected based on their warmth and durability. Elements such as wood trusses and stained concrete floors were left exposed to serve as both structure and finish. The student suites offer full kitchens, large operable windows, private bathrooms and shared living area and have fulfilled the goal of residence life for the college.
One of the main priorities of the project is the inclusion of measures to assure healthy indoor environmental quality. In addition to natural ventilation provided by operable windows, natural daylight and views from all the main occupied spaces provide an indoor environment that is connected to the outdoors.
Roberts Hall was awarded a LEED® Silver rating in December 2004.
