American studio Deborah Berke Partners has completed a student dormitory for a small Pennsylvania college, with different cladding materials on the building's opposing sides.

The High Street Residence Hall is located in the town of Carlisle on the campus of Dickinson College — a liberal arts school that was established in 1783, shortly after the formal end of the American Revolutionary War.

Designed to house 129 students, the building is the "college's first new residence hall in more than forty years", said New York-based Deborah Berke Partners in a project description.

Rising four storeys, the rectilinear building sits along High Street, a major thoroughfare that passes through town. One side of the building faces the street, while the opposing side overlooks a campus lawn.
Rather than create a uniform look on the exterior, the team opted to use different materials for the facades. The street-facing elevation on the north is clad in grey stone – a nod to the limestone structures that are prevalent on campus. The southern elevation, which faces the lawn, is wrapped in standing-seam zinc panels that are meant to weather over time.

The exterior also features mahogany accents and windows of varying sizes. "Whereas the front of the building is at home among Dickinson's historic buildings, the back activates its environs and fills the building with light," the team said.

E-shaped in plan, the building has a pair of outdoor courtyards ...