Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity

At 125 years old, the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity house was the oldest chapter house at WPI.  Built on a plot of land purchased from the Salisbury family, the property sits prominently on the edge of campus overlooking Institute Park. With the useful life of the original building over, the fraternity decided to raze the structure and construct a new home.

Madigan was selected as the contractor for the project, and worked closely and diligently with the client to control costs in a post-COVID environment in which cost escalations were prevalent. Collaborative discussions with the owner group and the design team proved essential to the successful project outcome.

One of the most significant challenges of the project was the extremely tight site. Steel sheet piling was needed around the entire site due to the close proximity of busy city streets and an adjacent church building.  With space at a premium, careful coordination of on site activities and material deliveries was essential throughout the project.

With a fully functional commercial kitchen and large common areas, the house was designed and constructed to board and feed 40 students during the school year.  An elevator was included in the design allowing the house to be fully accessible on all three floors. Accessible bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as collaboration spaces are featured on each of the upper floors.

The location is perhaps the most prominent not only of all of the fraternities on campus, but also of all campus buildings. It is the first structure seen my many when entering the campus area. As such, it was important to the Fraternity that the new building feature design elements which evoked the original 125-year-old house, but also be in keeping with contemporary design styles.

Highlights

• New 3-Story chapter house built on the site of the oldest WPI Fraternity house
• Designed and constructed to today’s highly energy- efficient heating, cooling, power and lighting standards
• Fully ADA accessible on all floors including a 4-stop elevator and ADA compliant bedrooms and bathrooms on each floor
• Fully equipped commercial kitchen
• Capacity increased to approximately 40 brothers of Phi Gamma Delta
• Overall size of project: 14,300 sf