Above: Renderings of the new residence hall at Lynn. LU Photos.

Since current students have entered the front gates of Lynn, they have only ever seen five residence halls: DeHoernle,Freiburger, EML, Lynn and Trinity. Well, Fighting Knights better get ready because a new residence hall is underway.

Lynn recently announced that groundbreaking on a new residence hall will happen in December and it should be open by Fall of 2017. The three-story building will hold 170 beds for upperclassmen. While only plans have been seen for the new building, it is sure to not disappoint.

“I think it’s beautiful,” said Dr. Phil Riordan, Vice President for Student Affairs. “I think Gensler [the architect company] did a beautiful job. When it’s all said and done students will race to get in there.”

The first floor will feature quadruplet suites with two full beds on each size and and a living room area in the middle. The second and third floors will be townhouses with two bedrooms and a kitchenette with a fridge and microwave on the second floor and three bedrooms and a nook on the third floor. Students hoping for a full kitchen should not worry, as there will be a full kitchen area in the lobby of the building for people to share. There will also be an outdoor area with grills for those who like to cook out.

“It kind of has an industrial feel to it,” said Riordan. “I can see students really taking some ownership of the building because it will be beautiful.”

With groundbreaking beginning in December on the old soccer field behind EML and DeHoernle, it will still be a while before we see any part of the building go up.

“Construction always kind of fascinates me,” said Riordan. “A lot of it is moving dirt and pushing it back and forth to get the ground.”

When the new hall comes to be, students will see what they want. Gensler held meetings with students last year to take note of what students wanted, not just what staff members wanted. When looking toward the future, several new residence halls will be built, but that does not mean that Lynn will become a very large school. To keep a small school feel, the maximum amount of students Lynn wants to grow to is 3000.

“The goal is to accommodate as many people as we can to stay on campus,” said Riordan. “We’re never going to get to 5000 or 10,000. That’s never going to happen.”

Unlike other schools, Lynn has always been focused on the three I’s: innovative, international and individualized. The larger the school gets, the harder it is to stay this way.

“We don’t want to be an FAU, we don’t need to be an FAU,” said Riordan. “That’s not why you came to school here. That’s not why others came to school here. They like that small intimate feeling.”

Get ready freshmen, by the time junior year comes around, this new hall could be available. Be on the lookout for more updates on this building as the year continues.

This article first appeared on iPulse on October 9, 2015 and can be found here.