Academy Reflects on Front Street Commons Construction

By Emi Levine, Sophie Ma, Max Mantel, and Andrew Yuan

Jackhammers and beeping vehicles pierce the silent morning on Front Street. Students sleep soundly in their beds as workers get started on the day’s construction. Soon, the Front Street Commons will be finished, presenting a new way to organize and structure residential life at the Academy. Students and faculty alike are filled with apprehension over the new dorm as it’s completion draws near. 

The current plans for the Commons includes 60 beds, five faculty apartments, a 2500 sq. ft. common area that would include a game room and kitchen, a day student recreational area, and four Harkness classrooms— an entirely new multipurpose space for the Academy. The Commons also has an environmental focus; it will have geothermal walls, a wood frame that reduces carbon usage, and optimizes natural light. 

Initially, The Commons will serve as temporary housing for students and faculty while their regular dorms undergo renovations. Langdell members will move into it for the 2022-23 academic year, and Merrill members for 2023-24 while the two dorms are renovated and rebuilt.

Director of Facilities Management Mark Leighton explained the reason for combining the residential and academic aspects of Exeter into one place: “The campus master planning completed in 2021 identified that the health education department needed additional space and specifically a fourth classroom,” Leighton said.

Leighton was also hopeful that the Academy might see similar projects underway in the future.“Our focus continues to be on our comprehensive renewal plan and projects identified in the campus master plan. Each project will be slightly different and will be appropriate for that area of campus,” he said. 

Some students still feel that disruptiveness might come with having classrooms in the same building as your room. Lower Akubah Ndubah echoed that sentiment. “I hope the Harkness classrooms aren’t on the same floor as any rooms. [If so,] that would be okay. But if the common room is on the same floor as the classroom, that’s also weird. It’s nice to have that divide between school and home. And if you enter your dorm and it’s a school building, you don’t really get that divide.”

Some students are looking forward to how the new residential combinations will work.“I can’t really imagine what that would be like, but I  just really hope that it can still offer the traditional dorm experience,” lower Mav Murray said. “I hope there can still be spaces for only dorm students and I hope that the students and faculty who are in the dorm can distance themselves from other students. I think it would be really fun if I ever got to have a class in the classrooms though, because the ability of being able to go from my room to my classroom seems very convenient,” they added. 

Leighton assured students that the dorm will guarantee the privacy of residents while allowing ample space for study and social engagement. “The dorm spaces and the academic spaces are completely separate and students will not have the ability to go back and forth between the two spaces,” Leighton said. 

Students also questioned the viability of Front Street Commons’ location and whether it would be beneficial to its purpose. Some students felt it would not help what the dorm is trying to accomplish. “I think that’s kind of a trek to get there,” said lower Merrillite Jenna Wang. “It’s just far away from most stuff, except for the music building, the science building, and the Health Center. If they start holding classes there it might become a more central part of the campus, but as of now, it seems a bit secluded.” 

When asked if she would want to move into Front Street Commons, Wang replied, “I would rather live in my current dorm. I think I like the idea that my dorm is just a dorm and there’s nothing else to it; that there aren’t a lot of people going in and out of it.”

Prep and fellow Merrill member Advika Verma felt very similarly about the location of the Commons: “I think in terms of a common space, the location will definitely hurt what the dorm is trying to achieve because it’s kind of far. One of the best things about being in Merrill is its location. People are always hanging out like in the Weth quad and putting it behind the music building might make some kids not even go there just because it’s really far,” Verma said.

“There wasn’t an option to expand the department in Lamont Health & Wellness Center so as the design of the new dorm developed, we were able to allocate an ideal space in the lower level that will accommodate their program needs and have a strong connection to the Health Center and Phelps Science Center,” Leighton said, explaining the reason for the location.

Some students, on the contrary, felt optimistic about the distance of Front Street Commons from the center of campus. Prep Ben Soriano noted the benefits of Front Street’s location. “I don’t look out my window and see people walking by all the time, so that’s something that I think would make Front Street Commons really strong as a dorm, but I think as a classroom, it would be a little bit lacking because it’s gonna take a long time to walk all the way there,” he said.

Many Merrill residents, who will move into The Commons in the 2023-2024 academic year, felt apprehensive or unsure about the combination of classrooms and dorm rooms. Upper Ale Murat talked about some discomfort she had with the two. ​”I don’t know. I’m fine with it because I saw the plans and I know that people won’t be able to go through the dormitory part. I just don’t like the idea of people coming to the dorm when people are possibly changing or showering,” Murat said.

Verma also talked about the loss of comfort and familiarity that comes with the Merrill dorm renovations. “ I definitely prefer the hominess of Merrill to the new industrial look of the dorms,” Verma said. “I [also] think the idea of knowing that there are classrooms, common areas, or literally anybody from the school right underneath me is really off putting. Your dorm is where you live and you want to feel the most comfortable there and having a bunch of random people going in and out of the same building doesn’t seem like it would be the most comfortable.”

Some students expressed interest in moving to the new dorms. “I think I would be okay moving in,” said Ndubah. “Because it’s a newer dorm and that means new facilities. But I love Merrill.”

Manager of Sustainability and Natural Resources Warren Biggins detailed his involvement with the Front Street Commons planning process. “I’ve been involved with this project from the very beginning. In the planning phase, I was able to give my input on the architectural teams that were being considered for the project, and during the design process I advocated for the project to follow green building practices and incorporate energy efficient building systems,” Biggins said. 

“One feature I’m really excited about is the use of geothermal heat pumps to provide heating and cooling to much of the building. We’ve used geothermal systems in the Goel Center, Downer Family Fitness Center, Phillips Hall, and a few of our faculty houses, and it’s great to add another building to that list,” Biggins continued, “Geothermal systems are exceptionally efficient!”

Environmental club co-heads expressed similar excitement about the use of energy-efficient installations in the new dormitory. “I know that the plan is for the dorm’s heating and cooling systems to be powered using geothermal energy, which is great! Other than that, I’ve struggled to find information on sustainability goals for the dorm,” lower and co-head of Sunrise Exeter Cee McClave said. “Overall I’m optimistic about the dorm’s impact on residential life and the move towards campus-wide sustainability, but we can’t get complacent and not also work to upgrade existing spaces.”

Senior Emily Wang, another co-head of Sunrise, also hopes that the Academy will continue renovating existing dorms to be more environmentally friendly. “I think [the new dorm] is an important step, but I also think the solution is not building one new green dorm. I hope the Academy renovates all the older dorms, especially the heaters… I read about this on the website… that the intention of Front Street Commons is to move people in and out of dorms while they continue renovating the old dorms. That would be really great.”

Students also seemed excited about the measures implemented to make the new dorm more sustainable. Lower and member of the Environmental Action Committee (EAC) Sonia Soloviova expressed admiration for the design choices. “I believe that ensuring larger windows and their optimal location for abundant natural daylight is a great step to decreasing electricity usage. As someone who struggles with light access and constantly has to rely on the lamps, I was really excited to see these issues being taken care of.”

“If there’s a garden implemented in the [new dorm], some form of agriculture production, hydroponics, or any source of plants would be great. I would really enjoy using natural materials in the construction. I think it’s important that if we’re gonna live in a house, it can be as natural as possible. That means replacing plastic and petroleum based substances.” fellow EAC member and lower Will Weber added. “I hope the Academy will salvage things from the unused dorms for the new dorm.”

Although students have mixed reactions to moving out of their beloved dorms, the construction of the Front Street Commons marks exciting new beginnings for the Academy’s commitment to environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, there remains work to be done on existing dorms and other parts of campus; becoming an environmentally-friendly school does not end at Front Street Commons, but it is a step in the right direction. “As a Dunbar resident,” said Soloviova, “I am ready to give away the status of ‘the best dorm on campus’ if the Front Street Commons will fulfill our expectations.”