Sawyer Hopkins Residence Hall + Wellness Center

As part of an ongoing housing renewal program, Cushing Academy decided to replace the aging Sawyer-Hopkins Hall with a new three-story residence hall and a dedicated wellness center. The new facility helps solve the independent school’s housing challenges by creating more double rooms and more faculty apartments in a central location. Student rooms and laundry facilities are located on each floor in the north and south wings. At the end of each wing is a small common room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking campus, and vestibules for academic advising, a layout that makes it easier for faculty to support and supervise students. Large first floor common areas have kitchenettes to accommodate meetings and impromptu gatherings.  The two- and three-bedroom faculty apartments are centrally located and have independent entrances. Each apartment has an office with a direct connection to student living spaces for one-on-one meetings or advising.

The design of the new Sawyer-Hopkins Hall and Wellness Center provides an important architectural connection between the residential and academic buildings on campus, continuing the traditional red brick masonry and metal sloped barn-like roofs. The new building is set into a sloping site with sidewalks and ramps along the perimeter for access from varying grade levels.

The Wellness Center is at the building’s lowest grade and set into the slope with its own distinct public entrance.  To help differentiate the two programs, the exterior of the wellness center is a dark gray masonry complementing the red brick of the residences. The new Wellness Center is double the size of their former space, offering expanded counseling services, overnight rooms, and exam rooms for visiting doctors.