Replacing Dormzilla

Remember the proposed Munger Hall, aka Dormzilla, that was supposed to be built at UC-Santa Barbara? As blog readers will know, Dormzilla - like its semi-namesake Godzilla - died at the end of the story. It appears that a more pleasant plan for student housing is now on the way. From The Architect's Newspaper:

Officials from the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) announced recently that SOM and Mithun have been selected to design new dormitories on a site at the corner of Mesa and Stadium Roads in San Benito County. The effort is part of a broader initiative to increase student housing across the campus by 2029. The announcement marks the first student housing project on the campus in a decade as part of the University’s 2010 Long Range Development Plan. In total, SOM and Mithun are designing seven buildings for nearly 2,140 students on the northwest corner of the main UCSB campus in phase one of the project... 

Moving forward, the architects are engaging with students, staff, administration, and faculty. Planning and design on phase two—which encompasses residential buildings on the southeast end of the campus—should start this summer. The design team seeks to gain approval from the UC Board of Regents in May 2024, and begin construction in 2025.

Full story at https://www.archpaper.com/2024/03/som-mithun-design-new-student-dorms-ucsb/.