Yale Divinity School (YDS) will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 11 for The Living Village, a new residence hall specifically designed around the principles of environmental sustainability.
“The Living Village” was conceived to meet the standards of the Living Building Challenge (LBC), an international certification system that promotes sustainable design and construction. In a press statement, YDS said the project “aims to make a moral and theological statement about the need for constructing buildings that are in harmony with nature in a time of climate crisis.”
The development will be constructed with recycled and environmentally benign materials. It will be built on the YDS’ current parking lot, which inspired Divinity School Dean Greg Sterling to joke: “In a reverse of the famous Joni Mitchell lyric, we are un-paving a parking lot and putting up ‘paradise.’”
The project is the first LBC living certified structure in the Ivy League and the first at any college or university in Connecticut. Bruner/Cott Architects leads a design team that includes Höweler + Yoon Architecture, Andropogon Associates, and several other firms, as well as Yale’s Office of Facilities.
The facility is scheduled to open in August 2025, with additional units planned in a second phase of construction.
Photo: Artist’s rendering of The Living Village
