Location:
MIT
229 Vassar Street
Cambridge
Massachusetts
USA

coordinates: 42.3572006,-71.1014328
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Building names(s): Simmons Hall / "sponge"
Architect/Designer: Steven Holl
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Completion date: 2002

built cost: $78.5 million length: 382 feet height: 10 stories accommodation : 350 people structure: concrete block perforated with approximately 5,500 square windows each measuring two feet (0.60 meters) on a side, and additional larger and irregularly-shaped windows. An 18" (0.46 meters) wall depth is designed to provide shade in summer while allowing the winter sun to help heat the building, without air conditioning. Unfortunately, the efficacy of such a design is yet to be proven and temperature problems plague parts of the building throughout the year. The students complain that the very small metal window frames and screens create a faraday cage which make it difficult to receive wireless telephone signals. An average single room has nine windows, each with its own small curtain. Internal design consists of one- and two-person rooms—some in suite-like settings with semi-private bathrooms—and lounges with and without kitchens, roughly arranged into three towers (the "A", "B", and "C" towers). Simmons Hall is one of the four dormitories that have dining halls. awards: 2003 American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Architecture 2004 Harleston Parker Medal,