Residential Honors College
The Purdue Honors College is designed to provide meaningful opportunities to enhance the honors student experience. The Honors College includes over 40,000 sf (of 320,000 total sf) of space dedicated to academics. The residences, which are designed in a ‘pod’ configuration are integral with the College and provide a home to more than 800 interdisciplinary scholars. The Honors College creates a complete ‘living/learning’ environment in which every student can feel connected, learn, and grow as they each pursue their academic and social lives.
Working with the Dean of the College, students, faculty and staff, the Hanbury team engaged early with Purdue to develop the initial feasibility study which articulated the goals, vision, program, master plan, siting options and budget for the Honors College. The initial document also served as a fundraising tool. Following the feasibility study, Hanbury was selected to develop the final design, in association with CSO Architects.
The Honors College is a vibrant community, bringing faculty, administration, staff and students together daily. The College includes offices for the dean, faculty and support staff as well as a STEAM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Arts and Agriculture, Math) class lab, and a Computer Col-lab (the next generation of computer lab encouraging student interaction). There is also an Honors Hall with seating for more than 400 for presentations, lectures, movies and, when not reserved for an activity, group and individual studying. The Honors College and Residences also feature multiple large and small study rooms, reading rooms, recreational lounges, community living rooms and a retail dining operation.
The Honors College is sited along a main artery of Purdue University’s campus adjacent to the Windsor neighborhood, a group of historic residences cherished by the Purdue community. The University desired the Honors College to complement the massing and materiality of the historic structures yet provide 21st Century learning spaces that clearly communicate the innovation and state of the art learning that happens daily in the College.
