New Colonial Building Residence Hall opens

Earlier this month the College opened its newest student residence in the upper floors of the Colonial Building Residence Hall, home to the well-known Colonial Theatre. Located at 100 Boylston Street, the 10-story building houses 372 students.

The Colonial Building Residence Hall includes single and double rooms in three-, four-, five-, or six-person suite-like environments that include a shared bathroom. Residents share large common lounge areas in the center of each floor and full kitchens with stove tops, convection ovens, and microwaves. There is a centralized laundry facility in the building and some floors also have sound-proof rehearsal space.

"The idea behind the set-up in the Colonial is to allow for larger groups of students getting to know the people they live near rather than isolating themselves in small suites," said Norm Sosin of Emerson Property Management. The set-up allows for better interaction and communication."

The residence makes up floors 4–10 of the building. The second and third floors currently house faculty offices and rehearsal space, but will also be used for student housing next year once the Paramount Center opens. The original Colonial Theatre remains on the first floor of the building and is still a functioning theater, currently managed by Broadway Across America.

The new residence is also extremely environmentally friendly. To name just a few of the green features of the building: it utilizes a storm water collection system used to flush toilets; 35 percent of the building's electricity comes from renewable sources; low flow plumbing fixtures were installed to save more than 40 percent of the potable, public water they anticipate will be used by the students living in the building; and most of the building's finish materials, such as carpet, countertops, and ceilings include recycled content.

The renovation of the Colonial Building Residence Hall was done by Suffolk Construction. It is continuing renovation on other areas of the building.