Ramapo College
Ramapo College
The Village Apartments
Mahwah, NJ
A short, scenic walk from all classes and dining halls, Ramapo College residences are situated along the campus perimeter where beautiful walking trails and woods surround the 300-acre campus. The College has taken great care in the design and placement of the residences: many have beautiful views of the Ramapo Mountains in Bergen County, New Jersey.
The new complex H2L2 designed provides housing for 528 students in three-story apartment style buildings. The buildings are arranged in a series of quadrangles or “neighborhoods” that are connected via a central pedestrian spine. There is a centrally located commons building that provides laundry, mail, a convenience store, housing office, a resident director’s apartment, and a social lounge. In addition to the lounge, an outdoor amphitheater that helps foster community building and encourages student interaction within the campus experience.
Wetlands were prevalent throughout the site, so the final site design solution required a very careful choreography of parking, buildings, and wetland buffers to take the greatest advantage of relatively limited area.
The apartments contain four single bedrooms, giving the students a great deal of privacy. Counterbalancing that privacy, a large living/dining area with a connected kitchen allows the social interaction needed among housemates.