New Dorm Gets Name
Reed’s biggest residence hall will be named for native flower.
Rising on the north side of campus amid the pounding of hammers and the buzz of sawblades, Reed’s new residence hall now has a name—Trillium.
Clea Taylor, assistant director of residence life, came up with the idea. The dorm features an innovative pinwheel design, with three wings radiating from a central hub. This three-fold symmetry reminded her of a , which has three petals. “It just seemed very Reed,” she says.
“It’s perfect,” says Towny Angell, director of facilities operations. “Trilliums are just wonderful, mystical marvelous plants. Three beautiful petals to match the three wings of the dorm.” The flowers are native to Oregon and abound in the Reed Canyon, where they bloom every spring.
Built at a cost of $27 million, Trillium will be home to 180 students starting this fall, providing a significant boost to Reed’s stock of campus housing, which currently stands at 946 beds.
With three floors and 60,000 square feet of space, Trillium is the biggest building that the college has ever constructed in a single phase. (The Hauser Library is bigger, but was built in three phases.) Each wing contains three floors of rooms, housing 20 students per floor. The mix includes single rooms, traditional doubles, divided doubles, and a number of rooms specifically designed to be ADA-accessible, including some with kitchenettes. In addition, each floor includes a kitchen, bathrooms, and a lounge. The central hub features a spacious, soaring common room and a terrace overlooking a new quadrangle.
Designed to meet LEED Platinum standards, Trillium features solar panels, a high-performance envelope, energy-efficient appliances, lower-flow taps, and a design that reduces the urban heat effect.
On a recent walk-through, Angell pointed out architectural features. The exterior is clad in flashed bricks, which vary in length and color. Copper accents create a sense of energy and warmth. The terrace offers a dramatic, sweeping view of the Grove dorms and the West Hills beyond.
Angell says the project is on track for students to move in during O-Week. “We are on schedule and everything will be ready when students arrive in the fall.”
Tags: Campus Life, Institutional