Wall Residential College

Wall College — situated between existing residence halls — completes the perimeter of Tulane’s Bruff Quad, giving a sense of enclosure that reinforces the campus’s urban quality. A raised courtyard provides entry, engaging the building with the quad. Exterior corridors along upper floors reinforce the connection with the ground floor and reference the elegant open-air circulation of the neighboring halls. An interior courtyard with open walkways provides a more private iteration of the arrangement.

The lobby — almost entirely enclosed in glass and entered from the courtyard — serves as a main social lounge. Smaller study and social lounges open up the corners of the building where they are located, using glass walls when possible. A small service kitchen in each social lounge allows preparation of simple meals. These public spaces have modern plantation shutters on tracks that can close off the glass curtain walls in multiple configurations. These provide necessary sunscreen protection and add a dynamic quality to the building’s façade with their changing composition.

Individual student rooms contain easily moveable furniture, oversized windows with operable sections, and a built-in vanity with light and mirror, recessed to preserve valuable floor area. Every two student rooms share a common bath, featuring a floor-to-ceiling white glass window in the shower, and ADA-compliant rooms are scattered on every floor. A Resident Advisor apartment and a Professor-in-Residence apartment — including two bedrooms, den, office, kitchen, living and dining areas — complete the building’s program.

Location Tulane University, New Orleans Completed 2005 Size 90,000 sf