The architects heading the $35 million Ridgewood housing project presented their design for lower campus at an open forum for students and staff Thursday in Ziv Commons. After considerable debate over whether to renovate or demolish the 56-year-old dorms, the University announced last October that Ridgewood would be torn down this summer and be ready for occupancy by Spring 2009. Administrators also said Ziv Commons would be torn down.

"To renovate Ridgewood would have really been a compromise on what we think the long term goals are here," Dan Feldman, vice president for capital projects said at the time.

The new design, presented by William Rawn Associates, creates a quadrangle in lower campus, uniting the two Ridgewood buildings with a reconstructed two-story Ziv Commons, and the Village. Paths from Ziv Quad will "pierce" the quadrangle, and further connect lower campus, Sam Lasky, an architect on the project, said, during the forum.

"Quadrangles are traditional spaces effective at pulling people together," Lasky said. "The entrance to the Village becomes very clear and becomes part of this lot. It's no longer isolated."

Feldman said definitively that a late-night eatery will open in the space in the Village, which has been unused since the Village's construction in 1999.

Feldman could not comment on any details regarding the eatery. "We're at the early stage," he said.

The new buildings will house 184 residents in single bedrooms in four or six-person suites. Currently Ridgewood holds 109 residents, Feldman said.

Each suite will include a kitchen area, a living room and a bathroom, William Rawn, the head architect, said.

Lasky said paths from Ziv Quad will lead directly to the

new quad, and the rest of campus.

Lasky said this both separates the upperclassmen housing from the rest of campus, while still ensuring that it remains connected.

In order to create the path to main campus, the Admissions parking lot will be moved closer to the Slosberg Music Center, Lasky said.

The new common space, which will face the Shapiro Campus Center, will hold between 150 and 200 people and could function as a space for social and academic events, Lasky said.

Before Ridgewood can be torn down, Feldman said the University must receive a variance from the city of Waltham, which should happen by late summer, he said.

Feldman said students can submit questions and suggestions regarding the construction through the Office of Capital Projects Web site.

"We're always open to suggestions," he said.

However, in response to a student's question, Feldman ruled out the possibility of using solar panels in the dorm because of their expense.

Jamie Pottern, '09, a member of a student advisory committee on the construction, said the University should attempt the more costly energy-saving features in order to be "an example for other universities."

But Ariel Strauss '07, coordinator for Students for Environmental Action, and a member of the committee, said that unfortunately, "suites are very, very energy inefficient" as compared with other styles of housing because they include more rooms.

Feldman said he is interested in considering other ways to make the suites more environmentally conscious.