Campus Square

Campus Square is a multi-building residential complex located at the edge of Lehigh's campus. The University and the South Side of Bethlehem share a densely developed, aging residential neighborhood that once supported and was dominated by the now silent Bethlehem Steel works. The new complex sits at the symbolic entrance to the University campus straddling the axis of New Street, a central avenue and bridge that links the University to the City Hall complex and historic Bethlehem townscape on the opposite shore of the Lehigh River.

The complex is composed of four buildings with apartment style student residences totaling 132,000 sq. ft. These buildings are arranged about two courtyards. The first, 'Campus Square', is a paved plaza surrounded by retail shops and a granite stairway that is the primary focus of the courtyard space. The stairway contains open air seating at its edge with projecting trelliswork that supports plantings, provide shading and creates a rich welcoming, pedestrian environment at the edge of campus. This main plaza space is designed as an open-air urban garden that accommodates cafe seating that spills out from the adjacent retail spaces as well as provides the setting for seasonal outdoor festivals. The second courtyard the "Campus Green" focuses uphill and serves as a recreation space that links with the adjacent tree lined campus. A common student meeting space looks out across the green back towards the campus bookstore. The campus bookstore is entered off of the Campus Square and has a dramatic two-story entry hallway. A grand stair and bay window that looks out across the Campus Green space to a grove of birch trees greets visitors to the library-like interior setting.