The Opus Group (Opus) announced today the completion of
Geoffroy Hall, a 193,000–square-foot residence hall on the Iowa State University (ISU) campus in Ames. The eight-story, 784-bed building was built to meet increased demand for on-campus housing and represents the first new residence hall at ISU in more than a decade.
“As pioneers of the design-build approach, we were honored to collaborate with ISU on the university’s first ever design-build project,” said Jeff Smith, vice president, Opus Design Build, L.L.C. “Through our team approach, we were able to collaborate with ISU from start to finish to develop a flexible design that delivered added value to the university’s student housing needs and maximized the available resources to go above and beyond the project requirements.”
Located near the Memorial Union, the residence hall has a total of 392 rooms and features a number of formal and informal gathering spaces, including a large activity room, various study areas and community spaces on each floor. Additionally, Opus introduced the concept of “front porch” spaces that serve as areas for residents to socialize and meet in groups. This design element reflects ISU’s tradition of grouping students living on each floor into a “house.” The building was also designed to meet LEED Gold certification.
"The sooner we create meaningful connections among students, the more likely they are to graduate,” said Dr. Peter Englin, director, ISU Department of Residence. "The design of Geoffroy Hall enhances our house system by giving our students places to both naturally and intentionally cross paths and build those connections."
Opus Design Build, L.L.C. was the design builder and Opus AE Group, L.L.C. was the architect and structural engineer of record, as well as the interior designer for the residence hall. Using its unique
Opus DB3™ approach, Opus has worked on 65 Client Direct Services construction projects for clients throughout the country in the past 24 months including remodels, tenant improvements and new construction projects across sectors.
The completion of the project is also a strong representation of Opus’ student housing portfolio in Iowa, which includes
The Foundry, a luxury student housing complex located adjacent to Iowa State’s campus.
About The Opus Group
The Opus Group® is a family of commercial real estate development, construction and design companies headquartered in Minneapolis with offices and projects across the country. Opus operates as an integrated, multidisciplinary team with expertise in development, capital markets and finance; project management and construction; architecture, engineering and interior design. The Opus Group includes Opus Holding, L.L.C. and its operating subsidiaries: Opus Development Company, L.L.C., Opus Design Build, L.L.C. and Opus AE Group, L.L.C. Specializing in industrial, office, residential, retail, healthcare and institutional projects, The Opus Group has broad capabilities, deep experience and a proven design-build model that delivers solutions for customers on time and on budget. For more information, visit
www.opus-group.com and follow
@TheOpusGroup on Twitter.