New Residential Living Learning Community

The University of Missouri System developed a new residential living learning community on the campus of University of Missouri-Kansas City. The project provides beds for 500 to 540 freshmen and sophomores with a significant amount of community and living/learning space. The most common unit is a double-occupancy residence hall style room with a shared bath. The design breaks the building down into 10 communities of 50 students, each containing 24 double and two single rooms, one RA unit, a kitchenette, a social lounge and a quiet study lounge. The tight 2-3 acre site presented some design challenges due to a 40’grade drop across the site. The resulting design is a beautiful, courtyard-style building that steps up the slope transitioning from 5 stories at the street level to 2 stories on the upper end. The design accommodates a pedestrian connection of the campus to the new housing. The facility is a woodframe structure with a predominately brick exterior and a masonry ground floor. The project was on a very fast track schedule for design and construction - allowing only 18 months from developer/architectural team selection to occupancy. This was a developer-led project team and was comprised of Capstone Development, Design Collective and Treanor Architects.