Yale's Residential Colleges constitute a body of architecture that is unique and unsurpassed on American university campuses. The Residential Colleges provide a quality of life incomparable to any simple dormitory experience. The unique personality of each College is as much a result of its history as its current population. The study undertaken in connection with this Area Plan included a commitment to understand and protect the character of these splendid buildings.

To this end, the study provided for the continuing involvement of the many and varied constituencies that use the Residential Colleges through the Yale College Housing Council, whose membership includes officers, deans, administrators, college masters and students. Representing a wide array of perspectives, the Housing Council served as a vital source of information as well as an important sounding board for the study.

The implementation plan identified the four colleges most in need of renovation as: Berkeley College, Branford College, Saybrook College and Timothy Dwight College. In all four cases, these buildings have seen no comprehensive work since construction in the 20's and 30's.

The work will benefit from generous Campaign gifts from a number of alumni and friends including Anne and Robert M. Bass '71, Lewis B. Cullman '41 and David W. Wallace '48E. The Campaign raised many other gifts for Residential College renovations including support from S. Roger Horchow '50 for extensive work in Calhoun College and from Colonel William K. Lanman, Jr. '28S for Lanman-Wright Hall on the Old Campus. Campaign contributions for the Residential Colleges totaled more than $65 million.

The initial consideration of "comprehensive" renovations anticipated complex phasing scenarios, reflecting a number of constraints. These included the amount of work that could be accomplished in one summer, the amount of work required to make life-safety improvements mandated by contemporary codes and to do maintenance designed to protect prior renovations and the amount of financial resources available. However, rising dissatisfaction with the results of partial renovation forced by the limitation of construction to the summer, the increasing programmatic demands placed upon these buildings, and concerns about the expense of this approach led to a conclusion that the construction of an additional dormitory would be desirable. This facility would be used by students on a revolving basis while Residential College renovation continued during the academic year.

The new residential hall - aerial view from over Morse College, the courtyard of the facility opens to the south. Payne Whitney Gymnasium is shown to the left on York Square Place and the Central Power Plant is at the lower right. Drawing by Herbert S. Neuman and Partners P.C. Architects.

This new residential hall, as yet unnamed, is presently under construction on the former site of the buildings that housed the Office of Facilities and a nearby parking lot. It will be located at the corner of Ashmun Street and York Square Place, in close proximity to the Payne Whitney Gymnasium and Morse and Ezra Stiles Colleges. The accommodations will be somewhat different from the Residential Colleges. Rather than the traditional suites, the units in this building will be more like small apartments, housing from two to four students; each unit will have a living room, two bedrooms, its own kitchenette and bathroom. The red brick building, which imitates the collegiate Georgian style of Pierson and Davenport Colleges, is scheduled for completion during the summer of 1998.

The new housing will be first occupied by the residents of Berkeley College as their college undergoes renovation during a fifteen-month period from June 1998 - August 1999. By taking Berkeley out of service for one full academic year, builders will be able to work continuously in the unoccupied building to complete the renovation. When Berkeley students return in September 1999, they will enjoy a college restored to its architectural magnificence and improved with the technology necessary for contemporary student life, without a change in its basic character. As Berkeley is being completed, the renovation of Branford College will be under way. If fund-raising efforts are successful, Saybrook and then Timothy Dwight will follow.

Berkeley Dining Hall - restored to maintain its original character, with the addition of a new balcony. Drawing: Keiran, Timberlake & Harris Architects and Planners