The Anchor supports its student residents through an array of amenities that uphold social, emotional and academic wellbeing.

Key features

Anchor House is a dormitory housing project located adjacent to the western edge of the University of California Berkeley’s campus. Developed as a philanthropic initiative and opened to its first cohort of student residents in fall 2024, Anchor House reimagines the standard of living for students at the prestigious university. Designed by Morris Adjmi Architects with interiors completed by BCV Architecture, the 14-storey, 41,806-sq-m building has been designated to meet soaring demand for student housing at the university. A special emphasis has been placed on accommodating the needs of transfer students, who often come from a low-income background, with an array of amenities integrated to help them thrive academically, socially and culturally.

Imagined in collaboration with UC Berkeley, the residence is embedded in the academic institution. A maker space run by the Berkeley Art Studio is programmed to host classes for students and the greater community and a culinary classroom and rooftop vegetable garden to promote healthy eating and sustainable cooking run by the Rausser College of Natural Sciences. Two event spaces, a fitness centre with a yoga and meditation space, a recreation room, and ample study spaces enrich the student experience. A central courtyard and multiple terraces and balconies offer space for work and leisure. The base of the building hosts 1,068 sq-m of retail space, connecting the student space to the surrounding community.

The building comprises a mix of two- and four-bedroom units, totalling 244 apartments, with each unit containing private bedrooms, custom built-in desks, a full kitchen, an in-unit washer and dryer, central air conditioning, high ceilings and operable windows. Sun shading, green roofs and courtyard, high-performance building façade contribute to the building’s reduced environmental impact. Anchor House has been designed to meet LEED Gold certification requirements.

FRAME’s take

Student dormitories have long had the reputation of being purely functional, with beds to sleep in, bathrooms to bathe in and simple lounges to study in. What this set up has historically gotten wrong – though many have occupied these spaces and successfully obtained their degrees – is that they are highly reductive to the university experience and the needs of those studying. Places for connection and community building are especially important given the ‘epidemic’ of loneliness that university students are facing, research shows. The design team demonstrates the crucial role that the built environment plays in overcoming this by creating shared and individual living spaces that foster the social and emotional wellbeing of students as much as they facilitate academic development. From the incorporation of the building into the community through retail and public programming to the availability of amenities that support togetherness and promotion of healthy habits through wellness spaces, The Anchor building is exactly that – a design-driven anchor for its occupants to rely on while navigating the challenges of university life.