The Student Agencies Building
The Student Agencies Building is a 7-story, 100-bed mixed-use luxury student residence in the heart of Ithaca’s Collegetown, a dense urban area directly off the Cornell campus and on the corner of two heavily traveled roads. SAI wanted to enhance the student experience by bringing students into Collegetown and providing a residence that would help them balance the sense of community with independent living.
It is a contemporary building in a historic neighborhood, designed to pay homage to the millpond that once was situated on the Student Agencies Building site, now reflecting the Cornell Campus in its glass as the water once did.
Architecturally the site sits between traditional 1900’s “main street” and the high-tech and contemporary architecture on the Cornell campus. The design has taken great strides to be contextual to the environment around it. On the west, the building is contextual to the street. Around the corner on the north, the building takes a different shape, referencing the adjacent gorge.
Owner: Student Agencies, Inc. | 409 College Avenue | Ithaca, New York 14850
Location: 409 College Avenue | Ithaca, New York 14850
Completed: August 2021
Design Award Year: 2022-’23
Award Category: Residential, Multi-family
Project Type: New Construction
Award Level: Citation
Submitting Architect and Project Link:
Steve Hugo, AIA
Datums – The rest of the College Avenue block carries a series of Datums at the cornices and lintels from building to building. The design of the Student Agencies Building continues these Datums organically and incorporates them in the cantilevered glass section through selective glass tint.
Tripartite Bays – The surrounding buildings are all broken up into three distinct sections. The fenestration of our building replicates this pattern.
Articulated Base & Bookends – The entire block sits on a series of store fronts clad in a warm, orange hued brick separated from the rest of the building by distinct cornices. The exception to this rule is 401 College Ave at the corner which carries the warm brick throughout the façade. The Student Agencies Building utilizes these two elements to create bookends to the College Avenue block.
Juror Comments
“The contextual design approach resulted in a building that blends seamlessly with the existing streetscape in materiality and scale.”
“The project intentionally sets a social edge to the site with careful attention to the site design and adds value to the streetscape.”
“Incorporation of the glass facade works well within the masonry context.”
Gallery
