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| New Dorm Towers at UNO |
This is the other new dormitory complex I designed in Google Sketch-Up. Unlike the existing student housing at the
University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), this new dorm complex would be a traditional dorm tower. However, these two new towers would retain the attractive apartment style floor-plan which all UNO housing features. The towers would also sit on a massive 4 level parking garage. UNO is infamous for its lack of parking, and the recent construction of a new
community engagement center on an existing surface lot has made the problem worse. The new towers would add more student housing on the main campus and help alleviate some of the parking woes.
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| New Dorm Complex on Left, Western Half of University Village on Right |
For those familiar with UNO, you will notice that the new tower complex sits on part of University Village, an existing student housing complex. This area is known as 'The Valley' and is adjacent to the meadow where the annual
'Shakespeare on the Green' takes place. The existing student housing, University Village, was opened in 1999 as the first on campus housing at UNO. While the vision to bring students on campus was genius for UNO's future, the execution of this vision lacked some foresight.
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| University Village Floor-Plan |
University Village has become outdated and dangerous. While living at Maverick Village - adjacent to University Village - there was an
armed robbery and several instances of doors being kicked in. The fatal security flaw in University Village's design is having the doors to each dorm face the exterior of the building, meaning anyone off the street can easily kick in a door and break in. Later dorms corrected this by having a secure enclosed hallway only accessible by a resident's student ID card. The floor-plan at University Village is also cumbersome. The dorms feel cramped, with an awkward kitchen peninsula separating the main living room from the kitchen. This 'closed' floor-plan is outdated and was dropped for a modern graceful open floor-plan when the new dormitory complexes were constructed. This open floor-plan is what I used when designing both of my proposed student housing projects.
I believe University Village has served its purpose. It has been a great test run for student housing at UNO. The administration has obviously learned, for the newer complexes - Scott Court, Maverick Village, and Scott Village - are excellently designed and should last for decades. As mentioned in my previous post, these new dorm towers are purposely enclosed, unlike the existing student housing, to promote student interaction and add to the sense of community. The lower level of both buildings would feature administrative offices, laundry facilities, a mail room, study/social areas, and at least one cafeteria. The narrow central area of each tower would feature elevator shafts that run all the way down to the bottom level of the parking garage. If you
download the model, you can see where the stairwells are (though some of the interior had to be
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| Green Area |
deleted to fit a Google Warehouse size requirement). The parking garage would have two entrances/exits both emptying out onto University Drive South. The top level of the garage would be turned into a large green area that could be used for student recreation. My model has a four level parking garage. The two lower levels are below the existing ground level. I don't know if there are any major utility pipes underneath 'the valley' so these lower levels may not be feasible.
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| View from Southeast |
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| View from Above looking North |
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| View from Northwest |
Download Model
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