Finalists Selected for University of West Georgia Housing Facility

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Carrollton, Ga.—East Village Housing & Dining Phase II at the University of West Georgia has taken another step closer to realization with the selection of four short-list finalists for the development of the facility, as well as an architect-of-record. RFQs for the development of the project, which will serve the Carrollton-based university of about 11,600 students 45 miles west of Atlanta, were due early in January. The project is expected to be complete in August 2013.

Out of 18 proposals, the four finalists include Choate Construction Co., Hardin Construction Co. L.L.C., Juneau Construction Co., and RA-Lin and Associates Inc. Out of 20 proposals, HADP Architecture Inc. has been selected to design the project. Also involved in the design will be the associate architect, Collins Cooper Carusi Architects and program manager Hal Gibson Cos.

Components of the $36.5 million East Village Housing & Dining Phase II will include a new residence hall of 460-beds; demolition of two existing housing buildings (Down’s Hall and Boykin Hall) as well as the Art Annex; renovation of the 290-bed Bowdon Hall to include ADA accessibility, updated bathrooms, wireless IT, and other improvements; and a new 320-seat dining facility with housing and residence offices above.

The project will mark the first major development on the eastern side of the University of West Georgia campus. The university says it wants the new facilities is to produce a new “front door” to campus as one approaches from downtown Carrollton, but also to create a “neighborhood feel.”

The project will also incorporate sustainable design elements, enough to produce a level-2 certification of two “peaches” within the Georgia Peach program, which is a statewide ratings system for energy efficiency and sustainable construction standards. According to HADP Architecture, green features are important to students, and thus help the university by helping it retain its students.

“Younger generations are more knowledgeable of sustainability and what design features can do for them, their health and the long-range global benefits,” Stewart Aiken, chairman of HADP Architecture and principal in charge of East Village Housing and Dining Phase II, tells MHN. “Also, at their age they have a more long-term effect from these benefits.”