UVA Emmet Street residential district
As part of its efforts to reinvest in residential life, The University of Virginia worked with DumontJanks to plan a new residential district along Emmet Street. Located on 11.8 acres at the seam of Central and North Grounds, the site was identified in the North Grounds Planning Study as an underutilized district with strategic adjacencies to athletics, Lambeth Field, and the academic core. Redevelopment of aging graduate apartments, a foundation-owned property, and a surface parking lot created the opportunity to reimagine this entrance corridor as a dynamic residential environment, aligned with the University’s 2030 Strategic Plan commitment to housing all second-year students on Grounds. The plans accommodate 1,200 to 1,500 new beds.
The planning process emphasized academic success, student community, and the character of the landscape. Meadow Creek, a defining ecological feature, was preserved and enhanced as a central open-space element, while the Goodwin Pedestrian Bridge and adjacent bus stop were fully embraced as the district’s connective crossroads. Together, these assets shaped the organization of new housing, common spaces, and movement networks. The study explored scenarios that balance density with sensitivity to adjacent neighborhoods, envisioning a composition of 5–6 story residential buildings arranged around courtyards which double as stormwater reservoirs, tied together by a pedestrian concourse.
The design idea builds a sense of community through a series of interconnected residential enclaves, each with its own courtyard identity but united by shared amenities, dining, fitness, and academic collaboration spaces. At the street level, active ground floors, retail, and student work spaces extend the life of the district into the Emmet Street corridor and strengthen links to city transit, bicycle networks, and the wider campus. The Emmet Street Residential District is not just new student housing, but a community that integrates landscape, mobility, and residential life to create a vibrant new gateway.
