At a glance
Alfred State College (ASC) Architecture students Abigail Jones (Pittsford), Jack Christie (Geneseo), and Mason Miller (Fairport) earned first prize honors in a modular student housing challenge sponsored by Razak Associates.
Alfred State College (ASC) Architecture students Abigail Jones (Pittsford), Jack Christie (Geneseo), and Mason Miller (Fairport) earned first prize honors in a modular student housing challenge sponsored by Razak Associates.
Students in Design Studio I worked individually to design a modular student-housing complex for 100 students with a maximum of 30,000 square feet on the Alfred State campus. This was students’ first exposure to modular housing and working within tight design constraints.
Students had to consider a multitude of options for the project: site design, amenities such as dorms, bathrooms, laundry and kitchens, residential services, in addition to designing a building that was attractive and accessible to all users. Students used their experience living in on-campus housing, translated that experience, and identified needs into a workable building plan. The winning students submitted work that conformed to the basics of modularity and requirements of student housing but incorporated elements of their own style and precedent studies.
To prepare for the challenge, students visited a modular construction site at Signature Building Systems of Pennsylvania in Moosic, PA to understand the intricacies of modular housing.
Architecture professors, Alan Vlakancic, Matthew DiRado, and Bryan Toepfer were pleased with the results of this hands-on, project-based challenge. “The students’ understanding of the difficulties and unique solution to the problem provided an insight into student needs while conforming to the requirements that the college and the State University of New York necessitates. The utilization of circulation, codes and modularity coupled with unique materiality and programmatic choices from all of the entrants is advanced for this level and impressed the jury.”
Razak Associates President Mohamed Razak was proud to support the competition and excited to see the continued growth of the program. “We would like to congratulate Abby, Jack and Mason on their first-place designs for a modular student residence hall. We look forward to seeing what these students and future Alfred State graduates brings to the field of architecture.”
Matthew Agle (Collins), Richard Miller (Bradford), and Connor Eng (Islip) earned runner up status in the competition. Both the first prizes and runners-up were awarded cash prizes.
About Razak Associates:
Established in 1995 by Mohamed M. Razak, Razak Associates is a specialized architectural and engineering firm designed to respond effectively to the particular needs of health care, institutional, and academic organizations.
Our clients include rural hospitals, medical centers, and nationally reputed teaching hospitals along with government clients like the Dormitory Authority (DASNY), the Office of General Services (OGS), and the State University Construction Fund (SUCF).
About Signature Building Systems of Pennsylvania:
We are a custom modular home manufacturer located in Northeastern PA.
Signature Building Systems of Pennsylvania is a custom modular manufacturer with 25+ years of experience producing single-family and multi-family housing along the East Coast. Our approach was perfected by our dedicated team over time, producing high-quality modular homes with fully customizable results.