fostering community through inclusive design
As Hope College sought to expand housing to meet demands of growing enrollment, the college purposefully endeavored to infuse accessibility and inclusion into student housing in a holistic way, rather than to simply meet minimum accessibility requirements. Hope partnered with AMDG and Lakewood Construction to advance this mission in the expansion to the Cook Village student housing and to deliver the project to the college’s budget goals.
AMDG directly engaged with students of varying abilities and worked closely with Hope Student Life to inform programmatic and accessibility needs. The listening and engagement also revealed ingredients in the successful “cottage” model of student housing on Hope’s campus. Through the predesign and programming process, AMDG identified opportunities for a distributed model of accessible units to more holistically enrich the student life experience for students of all abilities.
The homes accommodate living units for 6 to 8 students. Accessible and ambulatory living units are intentionally co-mingled, and accessible circulation routes are the path for all the residents. Gathering spaces, both interior and exterior, are intended to foster natural connections to build community, while breakout and study spaces provide quiet zones and retreat within group living environments. AMDG’s ability to execute design intent with technical coherence and excellence allow the homes to deliver on their mission without compromise from code or engineering constraints.
Site planning and exterior massing intentionally reinforce neighborhood scale. A variety of roof forms and exterior expression, while consistent with the Hope campus architectural standards, introduce a whimsical approach to the streetscape. The housing expansion, as a whole, strengthens college community and enriches student life.
