Butler College Dormitories, Princeton University
With its undulating brick facade, landscaped courtyards, and generous public walkway, Butler College connects with Princeton’s rich Collegiate Gothic tradition in a fresh and lively way.
The 288-bed complex is clad in varying-colored red brick, accented with both continuous and randomly placed bands of limestone. Responding to the need for larger bedrooms on upper-level suites, the facades are further animated with wavelike undulations that expand and contract according to interior use.
The surrounding site is sculpted into a split-level landscape, with both upper- and lower-level courtyards connecting to the existing Butler Commons. New pedestrian paths and vistas enrich the campus while extending the long tradition of space-shaping buildings at Princeton.
Show Facts
Site
In the southwest quadrant of the historic campus
Components
112,000 ft2 / 10,000 m2 gross area; five dormitories within two buildings; café, study library, lounge, gallery, seminar rooms, landscaped courtyards
Client
Princeton University Office of Design and Construction
PCF&P Services
Master planning, architecture, exterior envelope, interior design
Sustainability
Designed for LEED certification
Awards
Brick in Architecture Awards: Silver Award, Education
Brick Industry Association, 2011
Design Awards: Merit Award, Campus Housing
Residential Architect, 2011
Outstanding Design
American School & University, 2013
Golden Trowel Award
International Masonry Institute / Masonry Contractors of New Jersey / Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers of New Jersey, 2009
Award of Merit, Education
American Concrete Institute, New Jersey Chapter, 2010
Construction Excellence Awards: Best Specialty Contractor Project
General Building Contractors Association, 2010
The complex has been carefully conceived in scale, material, and detail to offer dormitory space in an architectural form characterized by warmth, eventfulness, and informality.
The east wing encloses the south-facing Memorial Courtyard, designed as an amphitheater. Two additional lower-level courtyards similarly provide access and daylight to Butler Commons.
High-efficiency low-E glazing allows natural light to illuminate most of the interior spaces, while more than half of the facility’s roof area consists of environmentally friendly green roofs.
Project Credits
Landscape: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., Brooklyn, NY; Structural: Leslie E. Roberston Associates, New York; Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing: Vanderweil Engineering, Lawrenceville, NJ; Lighting: Cosentini Associates / One Lux Studio, New York; Images: Taylorphoto.com, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Bob Taylor / Times Herald, Jon Roemer