Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 5/10/05 Section: Campus News

The Campus Village apartments at San Jose State University stand apart from the designs of other downtown apartment buildings.

Ed Palmer, architect for Niles Bolton Associates, said the Campus Village apartments were not specifically designed to complement any other building projects in downtown San Jose, but to provide a new look and residential character for University Housing at SJSU.

Palmer said the San Jose Redevelopment Agency participated in early programming work sessions and gave advice, which was incorporated into the Campus Village project.

For example, Palmer said, individual unit entrances for the buildings were developed from the ideas discussed with the agency in the early work sessions.

Susan Hansen, director of University Housing Services at SJSU, said housing services wanted the new buildings of Campus Village to be attractive, but also have an urban feel.

Palmer said the design of the Campus Village buildings was not intended to emulate other campus buildings, but was designed to capture the character and feel of the older campus buildings.

"We did this through the use of sloped roofs, arched windows, cornice and fascia detailing and red brick on the lower portions of the buildings," Palmer said.

Hansen said Campus Village is not trying to compete with the downtown area in the strictest sense because it is hard to compare what on-campus housing offers to a downtown situation.

With on-campus housing, Hansen said, students will get utilities, Internet service, basic cable and local phone service included in their rent.

"We also work with students on payment plans when they have financial challenges, unlike landlords off campus," Hansen said.

"When we created the original request for proposals for an architect and developer, we had already coined the term 'Campus Village' because we were looking to build on the sense of community that living on campus provides," Hansen said. "Niles Bolton Associates, the architectural firm that was awarded the bid, gave us the feel that we were looking for as a campus."

Palmer said Niles Bolton Associates developed the designs of the building and the project with significant input and approval from the university.

"Market studies and a program document developed by the university outlined the project requirements," Palmer said.

Hansen said students, organized in 10 focus groups, helped give direction to the project.

"In essence, the students designed the layouts for the freshmen suites and the upper division apartments," Hansen said. "Students also picked out all of the furniture - style and fabrics - and had input on everything from recreational areas to carpet colors."

Hansen said all decisions concerning finances were approved by a Campus Village management team.

Palmer said the design process for the buildings began in January 2001.

"This process established the project image and character which continued until the completion of construction drawings and specifications in September 2002," Palmer said.

Palmer said revisions and changes to reflect new input and technology were incorporated during the construction period.

Diana Tran, community relations coordinator for Campus Village, said construction of the buildings began in December 2002.

The designs include three different buildings, Tran said, which are The Suites, The Apartments and The Faculty, Staff and Guest Apartments.

Tran said the Suite-style building - seven stories high and able to house more than 550 students - was designed for freshmen.

Hansen said students from the focus groups were adamant that freshmen have roommates to meet as many people as possible during their first year.

"This resulted in the Suites building being all doubles with eight students living in one suite," Hansen said. "The Suites also have a specially programmed lounge in each floor of the building for recreations, socializing and studying."

Hansen said students requested that bathrooms be divided into sections and that bedrooms be larger.

"We took some of the space that we would have put in the living rooms and re-distributed it to the bedrooms and bathroom scheme," Hansen said. "We also added studios, based on student requests."

The Apartments, Tran said, is a high-rise building intended to house more than 1,400 sophomore, junior, senior and graduate students.

Tran said the Faculty, Staff and Guest Apartments boasts 98 living units and was designed for the faculty, staff and guests of SJSU.

"The Suites were completed and turned over to the university in April," Tran said. "The Apartments are expected to be completed in July and the Faculty, Staff and Guest Apartments should be finished by the first of August."

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