{"id":95312,"date":"2025-07-26T23:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T23:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/95312\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T23:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T23:40:13","slug":"inside-uws-new-289-million-gothic-state-of-the-art-dorms-and-dining-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/95312\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside UW\u2019s New $289 Million Gothic, State-Of-The-Art Dorms And Dining Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

LARAMIE \u2014 The finishing touches are being put on the first of two new dormitories and an adjoining two-story dining hall as the University of Wyoming gets ready to welcome students for the fall semester.<\/p>\n

Both the North Hall, which also houses the university\u2019s new dining area, and the South Hall sit on the west side of North 15th Street in Laramie and are being built to look like the past \u2014 Gothic and collegiate with sandstone exteriors that fit with the older buildings on the storied campus.<\/p>\n

Director of Capital Construction Jennifer Coast said the six-level north dormitory which features 410 beds is being readied to receive students next month. The five-story South Hall designed for 542 students will open for the winter semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advantage to the native stone is that we are building 100-year buildings here,\u201d Coast said.<\/p>\n

Stone for the two dorms came from Utah and J E Dunn Construction Superintendent Brenton Chinn said the stone was one of the first things on the supplies list when the project was approved. The dorms have been under construction since 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stone was one of the big early hurdles. It had to be ordered about a year before the project started,\u201d Chinn said. \u201cAnd then just matching everything with everything else on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gothic-inspired look goes back to the university\u2019s beginning in 1886-1887 and contrast with the concrete high-rise dorms on the other side of 15th Street that were built in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the original campus buildings were built using sandstone from an old quarry north of Laramie,\u201d said UW spokesman Chad Baldwin. That quarry no longer exists.<\/p>\n

$289 Million Project<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coast said the $289.5 million halls and dining facility are designed to foster community and collaboration among students.<\/p>\n

Entering the North Hall\u2019s first floor from the southwest side main entrance, students will find themselves in a big space with a small kitchen area at the opposite end and a circular desk similar to a hotel lobby, allowing staff to monitor the secure entry and help answer questions or meet needs.<\/p>\n

The huge entry room also includes small study rooms to one side that can be checked out by students for group study sessions or small-group meetings.<\/p>\n

Housing floors boast an elevator lobby to create a sense of community that has a large screen for communication or entertainment.<\/p>\n

Dorm pods have a variety of room choices from doubles, singles, semi-suites with a shared bath and semi-suites with a private bath.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find that most students will opt for the lowest cost option, but we also know it is important to have options,\u201d Coast said.<\/p>\n

Each dormitory pod also has single-use bathrooms, some equipped with showers, and not the more community bathrooms typical in the older dormitory towers. The separated bathrooms will also make it simpler if floors need to be renovated in the future, Coast said.<\/p>\n

University of Wyoming\u2019s brown and gold colors are used in different ways \u2014 sometimes with carpets or wall paint to reinforce the university setting.<\/p>\n

The North Hall offers dorm residents and visitors to its dining area air conditioning from a cooling tower.<\/p>\n

Coast said that the west campus energy plant fills the tower with chilled water at night and water pumps circulate the water to cool the interior by day.<\/p>\n

None of\u00a0the old dormitories have air conditioning in them, she said.<\/p>\n

Window Saver<\/strong><\/p>\n

A green money-saving feature in the new dorms connects windows to the building\u2019s HVAC system. If a resident opens a window in a dorm room, the heating or cooling in the room immediately shuts off.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t heat the outside,\u201d Coast said.<\/p>\n

The North Hall also has a laundry room for students on the first floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Various walls on common spaces inside the dormitories and in the new dining space are awaiting art installations. The art will feature Wyoming artists and their works as selected by the Wyoming Arts Council.<\/p>\n

Baldwin said the university trustees set guidelines\u00a0and the council acted within them to select the pieces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey bounced things back and forth and came up with something everyone could agree on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In addition to the dorm space, the North Hall structure\u2019s 182,226 square feet includes a two-story dining hall and cafe that will serve the entire university.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really has a resort feel the way it is set up,\u201d Coast said.<\/p>\n

Arched pillars and a great hall greet visitors walking into the dining hall entrance. The entry level has a cafe\u2019 that will offer coffee and baked goods. It also houses a bakery that will supply other dining hall stations.<\/p>\n

Food Prep<\/strong><\/p>\n

Associate Director for Dining Services Vaishali Chitnis said she and her staff are preparing for the arrival of freshman students for \u201cSaddle Up\u201d week orientation from Aug. 15-22. They are planning to serve 1,500 meals three times a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.<\/p>\n

Once all the other students arrive on campus with varying meal plans, Chitnis said meal numbers will still stay in that range.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, our numbers are somewhere between 1,500 to 1,600,\u201d she said. \u201cThis year we started an unlimited meal program. That means students can come in unlimited times and eat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students, faculty, or the public without meal plans are still welcome to eat at the dining hall. For\u00a0$12.99, visitors get access to its nine food stations. Among the stations are Americana, Italian, a chef-run charcuterie station, soup and salad station and a special station for those with food allergies.<\/p>\n

Planning for all the various food needs has been ongoing for the past year, Chitnis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to run each station as its own restaurant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Each station has its own freezer and hot cooking areas. The second floor of the dining hall includes a prep kitchen in the back and a row of freezers for food inventory and backup supplies.<\/p>\n

Chinn said the freezers all have computerized monitoring so if one goes down, alarms will alert food services staff.<\/p>\n

Putting the dorm and dining area into the same overall structure took some effort. Chinn the architects, alm2s from Fort Collins, provided a \u201cwell-designed\u201d structure but having dorm floors over the dining hall meant challenges in construction related to fire codes and piecing them together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like you are putting two buildings together,\u201d he said. A 2-foot slab of concrete separates the dining hall\u2019s second floor from the dorm floor above.<\/p>\n

Outside, workers were focusing on landscaping. There are granite boulders and other rock , trees and sod, designed to blend in with the flow of the campus.<\/p>\n