Located in Los Angeles, California, Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a top destination for many prospective students across the country. In fact, LMU’s numbers have been growing, recently receiving more than 18,000 freshman applicants. Such popularity is evident of LMU’s success and educational standards, but it also poses a problem. LMU was struggling to find space for these new students, as such, they needed to find a way to meet this increased demand.
In 2019 and 2020, LMU began construction on two new freshman dorm buildings to meet the increasing demand for on-campus living. Students are expected to move in this coming Fall semester.
Deemed Palm North and Palm South, the two new dormitories were replacing two outdated dormitories, Huesman Hall and Sullivan Hall. The two original dorms were demolished in May of 2019 and construction for the new dorms began soon after, starting in 2019 and extending into 2020.
The new housing contains over 600 beds, which is 440 more beds than what the previous dormitories once held. The vast majority of these beds would be reserved for incoming freshman students. However, there would also be room for upperclassman.
But dormitories require more than just beds. They also need to provide an excellent living experience for on-campus students. To accomplish this, each building was fully furnished and now offer state-of-the-art amenities to help students live, study, and unwind after a long day. Some of these amenities include air conditioning, a BBQ area outside, media rooms, and outdoor hammock areas.
As for the students’ rooms, the two buildings offer a mix of the traditional and modern way of dorm living. Palm North has the traditional single or double-occupancy rooms that most colleges have relied upon in the past. Palm South, however, changed things up a bit. It features both 5-person apartments as well as 18-20 person “pods.” These “pods” have separate sleeping areas but communal kitchens, living areas, and multiple bathrooms.
How a student lives is important to their academic success. But they also need support from their peers and community. That’s why LMU made sure each dormitory offered Living Learning Communities (LLCs) to help students come together to share common interests and academic pursuits.
At Construction Protection Systems, we’re proud to have had the opportunity to play a small part in the construction of LMU’s Palm North and Palm South dormitories. Stay tuned for more updates from the innovators of 1-2-3 Door Shield—the original, reusable door protection system.