New Sid on the Block

“Mors de super.”

Sid Richardson College’s Latin motto, “death from above,” can carry on as the 50-year-old residential college moves into a new building, but remains the tallest college on campus. Construction began on new Sid back in fall 2019, and by Jan. 18 of this year, it was officially ready to welcome Sidizen residents. 

Anzilla Gilmore, senior project manager for the building construction, credited the student committee for keeping Sid the tallest college along with preserving other architectural-based culture elements. “They were consulted to better understand what was important to the college and what program elements needed to be considered in its design,” Gilmore said. “For example, the new building features a nearly 4,000-square-foot terrace, a salute to the floor lobby balconies at old Sid Richardson.”

While old Sid was a single 14-floor tower, new Sid now features three connected sections of two, five and 12 floors. The new building also differs in its dining options: Where old Sid featured its own servery kitchen within the Sid Commons, new Sid was built to be the third college connected to Seibel Servery, joining Will Rice and Lovett.

Sid magisters Michel and Melanie Achard said these and other changes, like Sid’s first-ever quad space, will require some adjustment from the students. “Each college gets a culture from its geography, its architecture and by the way that people adapt to the building,” Michel said. “For instance, in old Sid, what really mattered were the floor lobbies. But the floor lobbies are not that spectacular in new Sid, whereas the common spaces are. The way in which the college is going to have to adjust its culture, habits and places to meet to the new geography is going to be really interesting.” The Achards moved into the building in March. 

New Sid has the capacity to house 312 students this spring, and its students, including freshman Hanna Frampton, have been gradually moving back to campus and into the building since the start of the semester. Frampton moved into her fifth-floor single in January and said she is enjoying having the college community back together again after Sidizens were spread across north colleges and Wiess last fall.

“It’s been good to feel like I have a solid place to say, ‘This is my home,’” Frampton said. “Old Sid has a lot of tradition associated with it. But I’m excited about the prospects of being in this new building and helping set up the new culture here.” — Savannah Kuchar '22

Hanszen’s New, New Wing
The new wing will be the first mass timber construction at Rice.

With the new Sid Richardson building finished, campus construction is refocusing on its neighboring college, Hanszen, where a new wing will be uniquely constructed using mass timber. In this kind of building, traditionally used materials like concrete and steel are largely abandoned in favor of wood products. The timber components are fabricated off-site, meaning construction costs and times are reduced, along with noise and environmental impacts. “Aesthetically speaking, the new building will create a harmony with the other two buildings — old Hanszen wing and Hanszen Commons,” said Fabiola López-Durán, Hanszen’s magister. Construction on the new five-story, 165-bed addition is expected to begin after graduation in May, once the currently standing 1957 wing is demolished. Completion is slated for summer 2022.