The Opus Group recently completed construction of Geoffroy Hall, a 193,000–square-foot residence hall on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa. The eight-story, 784-bed building was built to meet increased demand for on-campus housing and represents the first new residence hall at ISU in more than a decade.
Located near the Memorial Union, the residence hall has a total of 392 rooms and features a number of formal and informal gathering spaces, including a large activity room, various study areas and community spaces on each floor. Additionally, Opus introduced the concept of “front porch” spaces that serve as areas for residents to socialize and meet in groups. This design element reflects ISU’s tradition of grouping students living on each floor into a “house.” The building was also designed to meet LEED Gold certification.
"The sooner we create meaningful connections among students, the more likely they are to graduate,” said Dr. Peter Englin, director, ISU Department of Residence, in a written statement. "The design of Geoffroy Hall enhances our house system by giving our students places to both naturally and intentionally cross paths and build those connections."
Opus Design Build, L.L.C. was the design builder and Opus AE Group, L.L.C. was the architect and structural engineer of record, as well as the interior designer for the residence hall. Using its unique design-build approach known as Opus DB3™, Opus has worked on 65 Client Direct Services construction projects for clients throughout the country in the past 24 months including remodels, tenant improvements and new construction projects across sectors.
