The five-building complex now under construction at North Euclid Avenue and East Sixth Street will be home to 700 honors students at the University of Arizona this time next year.
"We call ourselves 'housing,' but we're very interested in the community and the learning that goes on here," said Jim Van Arsdel, residence life director.
The artful design includes plenty of common areas for study and hangout time.
The project is under budget at $159 million. It's funded with bonds that will be repaid using student rent - not tuition or taxes, Van Arsdel said. Construction will be finished in April, ready to move in furniture and test the buildings' systems. Students will move in next August.
Here are some of the details of the project that's taking shape.
What's with the name?
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The college has traditionally named dorms after the counties of Arizona, but it has run out of counties.
The new complex will be named Arbol de la Vida, which means "tree of life" in Spanish.
The individual buildings will be Alma, Bondad, Cariño, Destino and Esperanza.
Artwork all around
The entrance on North Tyndall Avenue will show a copper-colored face. Etched glass at street level will have a tree pattern, with the pattern all made of text.
A canyon theme was used in the design of the curving corridors and some of the artwork, said Ray Corral, who is in charge of all residential facilities on the campus.
And some common spaces have high ceilings and windows framing city views. Interior windows will face courtyards.
Putting experience to work
There's one electrical circuit per room, rather than one for several rooms. That's because students use a lot more energy by bringing a host of electrical gadgets to school, Corral said.
Bathrooms have less tile and more epoxy floors, which don't need grout. Grout is hard to clean, and cracks open up the possibility of water damage.
Closet doors were maintenance problems in other dorm buildings, too - and leaders noticed that students didn't use the doors anyway - so they're being left off closets in the new complex, Corral said.
Beds will have adjustable heights, so students will be able to store their dressers and refrigerators underneath if they want.
New technology
Some buildings have solar thermal panels on their rooftops. They'll heat the water for the whole complex, Corral said. Sensors in each room "know" whether the students are home and control the thermostat accordingly.
Outlets come in two colors in the rooms. Regular ones are white; green-colored ones turn off to save energy when students aren't home.
Computers calculated the optimal angles for window awnings, Corral said, so windows will let in light in the winter but not heat up rooms in the summer.
Did you know
In 1924, women could get into trouble at a UA dormitory by, among other things, not wearing bedroom slippers after 10 p.m.
Source: Star news archives
Dorm move-in time
Expect heavy traffic around the University of Arizona as 6,100 students move onto the campus this week. Read more in Tuesday's Star.
Contact reporter Becky Pallack at bpallack@azstarnet.com or 807-8012.
