Building

The Wallace Residence Center was built in 1964. It houses four separate housing wings in an X-shape, with a central two-story core which houses various building services, including the Residence Offices along the south wall of the core.

The Residence Offices were the focus of this field study. The offices are separated from the exterior of the southern facade by an atrium stairwell. This stairwell is enclosed entirely with glass on the facade wall, allowing for maximum penetration of daylight.

Context Map of Study Area
Wallace Residence Center Context Map

Atrium Study Area
Atrium Study Area Plan

Office Study Area Plan
Office Study Area Plan

The Wallace Residence Center (WRC) has a reputation for somewhat poor thermal performance during the winter and summer seasons. According to residents of the dormitories, the winter cold and summer heat infiltrate into living spaces quite easily. This can be attributed to the fact that the standards for building envelope quality during the construction of the center were much lower than those same standards today.

Another interesting characteristic of the spaces along the southern facade of the WRC is that the atrium stairwell, although almost ideal by daylighting standards, seems to be less than ideal in terms of a circulation space or even an informal gathering spot for the people who live and work in the WRC.

These factors played an important role in determing the specific focus areas during the field study, and helped our team to craft detailed hypotheses and experimental procedures to test those theories.