When the century-old Little Building, one of Emerson’s most popular dormitories, required facade upgrades, Emerson embarked on a full gut renovation and expansion of the building, with the goals of restoring and strengthening the façade, increasing bed count, and enhancing social interaction and security for students.

The renovation increased the residential capacity of the building from 750 to 1,035 student beds, added much-needed student gathering space, and created two black box theaters with full pipe grid ceilings, two studio spaces, three rehearsal spaces, production space, a green room and dressing rooms, classrooms and ground floor retail.

Vanderweil provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, tel/data, security and sustainability consulting services for the project.  District steam is used for heating, with a high efficiency chiller plant producing chilled water for cooling.  Space conditioning is via fan coil units coupled with a dedicated outdoor air system and energy recovery, with natural ventilation in the bedrooms, to maximize energy efficiency and minimize space requirements within the existing building confines.  Two 10,000-gallon rainwater storage tanks provide reclaim water to flush fixtures.

The project has won numerous awards, including the SCUP (Society for College and University Planning) Honor Award for Excellence in Planning for a New Campus (as part of the Emerson College Campus), ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies) Engineering Excellence Awards, National Recognition, ENR (Engineering News Record) New England Award of Merit, Specialty Construction and the Preservation Achievement Award from the Boston Preservation Alliance.