Kahlert Village South Campus Housing, Commons & Dining

In fulfillment of the University of Utah 2008 Campus Master Plan and the 2012 Student Housing Master Plan, and to further its transformation from a commuter to a residential campus, the university had established the demand and goal to add 1,000 beds to its first-year housing inventory.

To support this primary goal, the university determined that a living-learning housing model would best support its vision and learning goals for resident students. These goals include collegiate success, personal development, civic engagement, and a culture of belonging.

The centrally located new housing, commons, and dining building sits in the South Campus district. The five-story facility boasts 992 beds in 344,514 gross square feet, broken down into housing communities of 36 and 40 students. These group sizes were selected to help provide a supportive environment to new students beginning their college experience.

Approximately 80,000 square feet on the ground floor is dedicated as a student engagement area by providing an academic commons and dining center. This ground floor becomes the hub for meeting, learning, socializing, and dining for residents and all of campus.

Spaces

• 650-seat dining facility with food venues and demonstration cooking
• Flexible and multi-purpose classrooms and a creative lab
• Knowledge and learning commons
• Adobe tech support area
• Meditation and wellness space
• Faculty fireside chat room
• Administrative offices
• Living-learning offices for civic engagement, health and wellness, and honors college

Outdoor amenities include covered social and dining spaces. Among some of the most popular features are a bouldering wall, hammock posts for relaxation, outdoor table tennis, food truck connections, a fire pit gathering space, and multiple areas for studying and socializing.

The site also has strong connections to important campus pedestrian pathways, including the Legacy Bridge, HPER Mall, and Fort Douglas and South Campus TRAX transit nodes.