SCAD’s campus in Savannah is decentralized, with classroom buildings and residence halls stretching from the heart of downtown south to the neighborhoods surrounding Forsyth Park. With a growing student population, SCAD desired to provide student housing closer to existing campus buildings at the west side of downtown. They acquired a parcel directly adjacent to Alexander Hall, an academic building, just outside the historic district. The new residence hall will house 806 upper year students; provide a dining hall for the neighborhood, and showcase a 17th floor banquet room with multipurpose space and roof terrace for SCAD events that will have amazing views of the river and downtown.
Shape
SCAD approached MMA with a student bed count target and a desire to develop a building concept in Savannah to emulate the program and the visual characteristics of SCAD FORTY, the residence hall completed in Atlanta in 2019. Our challenge was to meet those criteria while also responding to the industrial context of the port authority and the consideration of the opposing scales of the nearby historic district vernacular and the towering Talmadge Memorial Bridge. The result is a building form that steps down in scale to respond to the surrounding context.
Inspire
River Street is the 6th project MMA has designed for SCAD and we are honored to be continuing our long relationship, which spans more than a decade. Inspired by the significance of Savannah, GA as a rivertown rich in history and textures, building materials were carefully selected. Brick was selected for the base material referencing the brick context of Savannah with a modern spin – a dark charcoal with a subtle sheen reflecting the adjacent Savannah River. The use of dark grey metal panel, large expanses of glass, and warm wood ceilings that move from outside – in reference the charm of historic warehouses in a contemporary interpretation. Also tying into the industrial nature of the site, the custom concrete pattern created for the FORTY was reinterpreted to the geometry and datums of the massing.
Students who live on campus are more engaged, better connected, they miss fewer classes and they have higher GPAs. Our goal by 2025 is to have 50-percent of our student population live on campus. It relieves that pressure in the local community for affordable rental housing, because so many of our students will live on campus.
- John Buckovich Vice President of SCAD Savannah & University Safety
