Cannon Design tops off 26-story resident hall at BU; part of $500 million project

Cannon Design's Boston office has completed the topping off of one of its latest projects at Boston University, a new 26-story, high-efficiency residence hall designed to bring students back on campus. The new tower, which is part of BU's $500 million John Hancock Student Village, will provide housing to 962 students, opening up an estimated 250 Boston apartments. The event celebrating the completion of the structural steel for the tower was held at a ceremony at BU in December, where mayor Menino, BU president Robert Brown and BU executive vice president Joe Mercurio celebrated the achievement of this milestone event. One of the unique aspects of the new student housing tower is that it features a high-efficiency design created by Cannon. The firm's team includes design principal John Berchert, AIA and project principal Robert Peterson, AIA, LEED, who made a significant effort to ensure the towers will operate at a high level of sustainability. The new building will provide 962 new beds and feature components that will considerably decrease its energy usage, including highly reflective roofing materials that reduce the heat-island effect, transparent double-glazed low-e coated glass, a dedicated area for storage and collection of recyclables, occupancy sensors for lighting controls, a ventilation system that uses unconditioned outside air for cooling in late fall, winter and early spring and low-flow water fixtures that reduce potable water usage. The new tower at BU will house sophomores, juniors and seniors and will include reading rooms, computer labs, laundry facilities, group study areas, music practice rooms, student government offices, live and learn classrooms and a student activity room. The tower will be located at the northwest corner of the John Hancock Student Village on Harry Agganis Way, north of the Agganis Arena. Cannon oversaw the design and engineering on both of those projects. The new residence tower follows the successful completion of Phase I of the vibrant John Hancock Student Village at BU, also designed by Cannon. The first phase included an 817-bed apartment-style residence tower, the 270,000 s/f, $97 million Fitness and Recreation Center, and the $95 million, 290,000 s/f Agganis Arena.