A rendering of what the North Residential District will look like when construction is done on its newest residence halls. Credit: Courtesy of OSU Office of Student Life
After several semesters of orange construction barrels, obstructed pathways and noisy power tools, four new residence halls are set to make their debut in the fall.
Ohio State has released the names and floor plans of the new buildings that are set to welcome students in the fall of 2016, giving students a glimpse into what north campus will look like after the construction.
Blackburn House, Busch House, Houston House and Nosker House will join the lineup of residence halls on the newly renovated North Residential District.
The floor plans of the new residence halls feature a variety of room set-ups, including traditional two-person rooms with hall baths and various suite-style rooms with included baths and lounges.
Dave Isaacs, Office of Student Life spokesman, said that once construction is finished, there will be a lot more green space in the area in addition to the new buildings.
Outdoor areas will be a place for students to get together, in addition to the communal areas that will be offered inside the residence halls, Isaacs said.
“In all of the new halls there are meeting rooms of various sizes, there are places where students can hang out and study either as a group or individually with a lot of people around, there are rooms for group study,” Isaacs said. “There was a real need for a place where groups could get together.”
Yvette Vargas, a first-year in health sciences, currently lives in the recently opened Raney House and plans on living in Blackburn next year.
“In the space they put in front of Raney, a lot of people play Frisbee or just sit out there and study when it’s warm out, so I think it’s very convenient,” Vargas said.
All together the four residence halls will house 1,918 students, with Blackburn being the largest, Isaacs said. With the addition of these buildings to the existing residential halls, OSU’s campus will be able to house all first-year and second-year students next year.
Some students might notice two familiar names in the list of new residence halls, with Blackburn House and Nosker House being names that were recycled from residence halls that were torn down. This is to keep with the theme of honoring OSU veterans, Isaacs said.
