New Student Housing and Sea Urchins Renovation Project

by Natalie Barnett, '11 

With the renovation of Sea Urchins and the construction of three new dormitory buildings, COA is taking this opportunity to build some of the most ecologically friendly buildings around. While being the greenest structures on campus, a student based activities and lounge center will provide a place for study, work, and relaxation, while 51 more students will be able to live on campus in the new housing.

For the first time at COA, an integrated design process allows students, faculty, staff, and alumni to collaborate with Coldham and Hartman Architects of Amherst, MA (http://www.coldhamandhartman.com/), Stewart Brecher Architects of Bar Harbor, ME(http://www.sbrecherarchitects.com/) and alumnae Barbara Sassaman, '78, in order to focus the construction on a set of goals and objectives. These include creating a comfortable place for students to live and study while constructing a truly energy efficient and low environmental impact facility. The new dorms are being constructed to meet these requirements while the old Sea Urchins, soon to be the new Deering Commons, is being restructured so that it can be greener as well. 

The new buildings boast composting toilets, provided by Phoenix Composting Toilets, owned by COA alum Ben Goldberg, '90, timed showers and energy recovery systems to conserve heat, and energy efficient light bulbs and appliances. The housing, as well as Deering Commons, will have double stud walls that are filled with recycled cellulose for insulation from Evergreen Home Performance LLC (http://www.evergreenhp.com/) owned by alumnae Samantha Burbank, '00, and her husband Richard. Rooms are being situated to receive maximum sunlight, which not only improves the atmosphere and mood of the useable space, but also cuts back on the need for electric lighting.

Even the methods and materials of the construction are environmentally friendly. One of the objectives decided by the COA community is a minimum waste construction project made possible through the recycling of materials and salvaging resources from the former Sea Urchins building. The floors on the lower levels of the new student housing are stained sealed concrete with a cement substitute to reduce greenhouse emissions, and facilitate radiant heating throughout the floors.

Another one of the goals of the project is to increase business for local Maine companies. A majority of the project's supplies come from Maine companies, which promote local economy as well as reduce carbon emissions by decreasing the distance of material transport. The new heating system for the three dorms, Seafox, and Deering Commons will be fed by wood pellets, which has the potential to become a new strong industry in Maine.

One of the most anticipated aspects of this project, for me as a student, is the new Deering Commons building. It will contain year round social space for students, music practice rooms, studios, final project work areas, meditation rooms, and last but not least alumni space. The new alumni relations' office will be housed on the second floor and will provide a regular and strong presence representing COA's commitment to dedicated alumni relations. Not only will we students finally have a place to truly call our own, we will be able to interact with alumni on a personal level, as they too will have a space to spend time. It is very exciting to think about the increase in student activity on campus and, hopefully, the deeper relationships with faculty, staff, and alumni that we will share due to these new spaces.