• Courtesy of Mahlum Architects

Oregon Tech Residence Hall

Klamath Falls, OR

Project Categories

Portland
Higher education
Housing + hospitality

Business Type

Student housing

Size

85,000 square feet

The new residence hall houses over 500 students for the Klamath Falls campus. The 4-story structure showcases mass timber, a renewable and carbon-reducing material. It also uses the existing campus hot geothermal loop for heating and an innovative single-stack drainage plumbing system.

This is the first residence hall on any Oregon university campus to use mass timber at this scale and the first project in the U.S. to use a single-stack drainage configuration.

Architect

Mahlum Architects

Services

Mechanical engineering

Electrical engineering

Plumbing engineering

LUMA Lighting Design

Renewable energy systems

Technology design

Special features

  • A water source VRF system for heating and cooling that uses the campus’ hot geothermal loop.

    • The hot geothermal loop provides free heating energy by extracing 196F water (almost boiling) from 2,000 feet underground.
    • This is a cost-effective alternative to routing hydronic piping throughout the entire building.
    • A highly efficient system enables heat exchange between spaces within the building, further reducing building energy consumption.

  • Mass timber helps reduce the carbon footprint and presents beautiful wood finishes for heightened biophilia and occupant enjoyment.

  • The project’s plumbing design is the first to use a single-stack drainage configuration in the U.S., which reduced the amount of piping needed for the drainage stacks by around half.

  • Highlighting student involvement was central to the project team, including many alumni. Students contributed ideas for shared spaces, setting the future for the AEC industry.