New Graduate Housing

Introducing: Ashdown House (NW35) MIT is investing in its stock of graduate housing yet again. This time MIT Housing is building an environmentally friendly 550 bed building in a unique style that is a mix of traditional dormitory suites and apartments. This new building will bring a pub and dining services to the North West Graduate Community as well as bring the total graduate population of this section to almost 1500 graduate residents in 4 modern buildings. In the summer of 2008 the heart and soul of the Ashdown House Community will be transplanted from its present location on Memorial Drive that it has occupied since 1933 (building W1), to this new facility located on the northwest side of the MIT campus at 235 Albany Street (building NW35). This new location is in within one block of MIT Graduate Houses Sidney-Pacific, the Warehouse, and Edgerton. This complex will include 550 beds in a series of connected buildings that are three to five stories high and are situated around two courtyards. In addition to the private and public spaces in the buildings, the area surrounding the complex will be landscaped with spaces to create "greenscape" along Albany Street. The courtyards will create a singular community and will serve as private outdoor gardens for the graduate residents.
	Ashdown (NW35) 235 Albany Street Expected occupancy August, 2008
			Click here to see current pictures of the Construction of NW35
Room Types Ashdown will be a mix of suite and apartment style accommodations. All rooms are for single occupancy only (previously MIT had shared bedrooms in graduate housing). Each assignment will be for a bedroom within an apartment or suite.
Room types Descriptions (550 beds) # of Units # of Graduate Student Beds # of Incubator Beds Efficiency Apartments Studio apartments for one person, including kitchen facilities and a private bathroom. Pictures available 213 181 32 2 Bedroom Apartments Two people will share an apartment with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen facilities and a bathroom. 45 54 36 3 Bedroom Apartments Three people will share an apartment with three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen facilities and a bathroom. 19 57 0 3 Bedroom Duplex Apartments In these three bedroom apartments, the layout is very similar to the 2 Bedroom Apartments with a third bedroom up a flight of stairs, in a "monitor" on the roof, as depicted in the photo above. 13 39 0 3 Bedroom Suites Three people will share an apartment with three bedrooms and a bathroom.  These apartments are the same size as the 2-bedroom apartments, but with no living room or kitchen.  These apartments are designed for the Graduate Student on a tight budget. 50 150 0 There will be floor kitchens and lounges located near the 3 Bedroom Suites. Floorplans with square footage information are now available online to people with MIT Certificates on their computer: First Floor Fourth Floor Second Floor Fifth Floor Third Floor Typical units floorplans
NW35 Highlights: Strong community: Ashdown House has a vibrant community with many social events throughout the year. Ashdown hosts a weekly Coffee Hour each Thursday evening, which typically has over 100 people in attendance. There are also bi-weekly brunches, large parties and various events and outings throughout the year. Ashdown has almost 40 officers who take care of everything from parties to plants. Extensive public spaces: Common facilities will include four common floor lounges, four common floor kitchens, a television lounge, study lounges, a music practice room with piano, and another lounge with a grand piano. The dorm will have table tennis, foosball, and a pool table, along with an equipped exercise room. There will be space for meetings, private parties, and large events. There will lso be a fully equipped darkroom, laundry facilities, a student-run pub, two courtyards with barbeque facilities, a bike room, and a general storage room. Co-ed Units Available: Traditionally all suites and apartments in MIT Graduate Housing are single sex. However, Ashdown House allows co-ed apartments and suites. If you have someone of the opposite sex that you prefer to share an apartment or suite with, if you are both assigned to the same unit-type, you may request to be assigned together. If you do not receive the same unit-type initially, after move-in you may request an in-house transfer to a shared apartment, pending availability. Thirsty Ear pub: the "Institution of the Institute", the Thirsty Ear Pub, is moving to the new Ashdown. A new and improved Thirsty will offer more seating, an improved entertainment venue and a full food menu along with beer and wine service. On-site Dining Services: Dining service will also be offered in the new Ashdown building; full details on the service type are not yet available but will be released soon. MIT Shuttle Service: MIT Parking and transportation runs several shuttles that will stop at Ashdown House from early morning until late into the night, seven days a week. Parking: Ashdown residents' on-campus parking spot, if purchased, will be allocated in Sidney-Pacific's parking lot, adjacent to Ashdown House. Please note there is an annual parking fee administered by the Parking Office. Sustainable features: • Rainwater reclamation for irrigation • Heat recovery wheels on all air handling units • Water efficiency- low usage shower heads, toilets, appliances • High recycled content of materials • Recycling during construction/construction waste management (more than 90%) • Natural lighting will reduce the amount of electricity needed in the buildings
W1 Incubator in NW35 On December 6, 2007, MIT announced that W1 will be completely renovated before reopening as an undergraduate residence in the fall of 2010. From the fall of 2008 until W1 reopens, a group of approximately 50 undergraduates, several GRTs and the new W1 Housemasters will reside as a group in NW35. This is known as the "W1 Incubator" A group consisting of the W1 and NW35 Housemasters, Housing Office Staff and current Ashdown Officers decided where in the building to place this incubator. This decision was informed by a poll of current Ashdown residents indicating that most Ashdown residents would prefer to live in 3-bedroom apartments and 3-bedroom suites in the new building. The incubator will be placed on the 1st and 2nd floors of building 2 . This space is currently slated to hold 32 efficiency and 18 2-bedroom apartments. Some of this space will need to be temporarily reconfigured while the incubator is in NW35. The following list is the room numbers that will not be available for Graduate Students: 1st floor efficiencies 2nd floor efficiencies 1st floor 2-bedrooms 2nd floor 2-bedrooms 1021 1043 2021 2043 1023 2023 1032 1045 2032 2045 1025 2025 1033 1047 2033 2047 1026 2026 1035 1049 2035 2049 1027 2027 1037 1050 2037 2050 1028 2028 1039 1051 2039 2051 1029 2029 1041 1052 2041 2052 1030 2030         1031 2031         1046 2046 The current Ashdown Housemasters, the Orlandos, will be working closely with the new W1 Housemasters to make this co-habitation as smooth as possible.
Help/FAQ • graduatehousing@mit.edu