A new residence building planned for the west side of Albert St., just south of Union and across from Tindall Field, will be around five storeys tall and contain between 315 and 335 beds.

At an information session on Wednesday about the new residence building, project managers said Albert St. is the preferred location for the new residence building, based on both a 2014 campus master plan and physical availability. The University also announced plans to begin construction of the new residence building in May 2020.

According to Leah Wales, executive director of Queen’s Housing and Services, the reason behind the new residence building is to meet “modest” enrollment growth projections and to address deferred maintenance issues in other parts of the system.

“We’re strongly committed to the first-year residence guaranteed, so as we see enrollment growth over time, we want to make sure we can continue to meet that guarantee,” Wales said at the information session.

“One of the strategies we’ve had to do more recently without a new building is to reduce the number of spaces available for upper years who may want to continue to live in residence.”

The University also plans to make the new residence completely sustainable by targeting LEED’s gold standard certification, a guideline it’s also using for the JDUC renovation and the pending expansion of Duncan McArthur Hall.

According to Corola Bloedorn, Queen’s director of design and construction, the University is working with consultants to make sure the new residence’s design standards meet green criteria like avoiding construction in floodplains, reinstating the natural environment, and managing rainwater.

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