University of Virginia Library

Lambeth Committee
Reviews Dorm Plans

By FEN MONTAIGNE

Photo By Bob Humphreys

Lambeth Field May Soon Contain High Rise Dorms

Tentative Plans Show Accommodations For One Thousand Students

Members of the Lambeth Field
Committee, in a meeting on October 13,
discussed future housing plans for the
field, listened to the preliminary
recommendations of a site planning firm,
and instructed the firm to formulate final
plans within the next month.

D. Alan Williams, chairman of the
committee, and Maryann McDermott, a
student member of the committee, agreed
that the site planners, Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay
and associates, had proposed housing concepts
which were informal, refreshing, and conscious
of the environment and landscape of Lambeth
Field.

The plans presented to the committee are
only tentative, and the planners are now back
in Massachusetts working on the final plans,
which will be ready for the committee's
scrutinization in about a month. If the general
plans for the site are accepted, the architects
will be hired to create specific designs for each
of the buildings.

The most important feature of the
preliminary plans is that Lambeth Field will not
contain large numbers of high-rise dormitories.
The planners suggested that only one or two
buildings of six to eight stories each should be
included on the site.

1000 Students

These taller structures will be the focal
point of the housing on Lambeth Field. Smaller
"mid-rise" buildings of three to four stories
each will be clustered in an informal manner on
the field. They will be arranged so that they
will, in effect, slope up to the higher buildings.
The planners termed this concept "Walk-up
Mid rise."

The Lambeth Field area will be able to
accommodate approximately one thousand
students, according to the proposed plans.

Large, open green spaces have been included
in the preliminary plans. It is hoped that a large
part of the baseball field will be preserved as a
recreational area. The planners suggested that
ideas such as open barbecue pits between the
dormitories, and bicycle paths could also be
incorporated in the Lambeth Field plan.

The planners proposed that the colonnades
of the amphitheatre be preserved. The columns
are to be refurbished, and could be used as a
walkway between different buildings of the
Lambeth Field complex.

Access Roads

Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay and associates
looked at many possibilities for access roads
into the area. However, much of the land
around Lambeth Field is not owned by the
University. Plans for roads leading into the field
can not be finalized until the University makes
arrangements with the owners concerning the
passage of the road across their property.

A walking path would most likely extend
from the dormitories on Lambeth Field across
Carr's Hill Field, and would finally connect
with University Avenue. This would be the
main walkway joining the Lambeth Field
complex with the center of the University.

Train Problem

One of the major problems which the
planners faced was how to cope with the trains
which pass along the tracks next to Lambeth
Field. Several solutions were suggested.

The buildings could be clustered on the far
side of the field, away from the tracks, thus
considerably cutting down the noise.

Lower structures could be placed closer to
the tracks, and since the railroad line is
considerably higher than the field, most of the
noise would pass over the low buildings. The
planners stated that the ground vibrations from
the passing trains would be minimal.

Climate Control

The buildings in the Lambeth Field complex
are expected to have climate control units.
Windows in the dormitories, therefore, could be
closed all the time. If a student insisted on
leaving his window open when a train was
passing by, he would simply have to put up
with the noise.

It was also recommended that both bushes
and trees be planted along the railroad tracks.
The bushes would serve two purposes. They
would hide the unsightly tressles, and they
would also act as a buffer that might absorb
some of the noise. Despite all of the
precautionary efforts that the site planners
might take, all attending the meeting agreed
that some noise would reach the ears of the
Lambeth Field inhabitants. It was hoped that
the people in the dormitories could easily
adjust to the din caused by the trains.

Sasaki, Dawson, and DeMay have taken the
Lambeth Field Committee's suggestions and are
now in the process of formulating the final
recommendations.

It is not known when construction will start
on the Lambeth Field dormitories. A member
of Sasaki, Dawson, and DeMay asked D. Alan
Williams if construction of the dormitories was
to start in the Spring. Mr. Williams,
acknowledging that construction of the
dormitories was already late in starting, replied,
"Oh no, yesterday."