About the Project
The UC Irvine Middle Earth Housing Expansion project is an expansion of the existing Middle Earth Student Housing undergraduate complex. Middle Earth provides 510 students with high-quality housing accommodations along with dining, learning and amenity spaces. The vertical design expands UC Irvine’s capacity to accommodate increasing enrollment and demand for on-campus housing, as mandated by the University of California Office of the President.
The project features two residential towers that rise above a mixed-use podium and richly landscaped base, echoing the natural form and color of the region’s limestone canyons. In the towers, communities of student suites are connected on each level by a “Link Lounge” social amenity space complete with group kitchens, media viewing and laundry facilities. Below, the two-story podium includes a 750-seat dining facility serving the entire campus population with 10,000 meals daily, amenity space for student interaction, multi-purpose classrooms and new headquarters for housing administration. The landscape rises over the first floor to create a central terrace and landform that draws residents of the Middle Earth neighborhood to and through this student life center at the gateway to the academic core of campus.
Awards
2020
- Design-Build Institute of America – National Award of Excellence – Educational Facilities
- Design-Build Institute of America – National Award of Merit – Educational Facilities
- Design-Build Institute of America Western Pacific Region – Design Excellence Award
