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Opened in September 2026, Amherst College’s Ford Student Center & Dining Commons reworks the former Merrill Science Center site into both a campus crossroads and a destination for student life. Herzog & de Meuron is the design architect; Sasaki served as executive architect. Their central construction move was to retain the former building’s lower concrete structure and build two mass-timber floors above it.
What is the Ford Student Center?
The four-level building stands on the former Merrill Science Center site at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. The College commissioned it as a combined student center and dining commons. Herzog & de Meuron identifies the project as number 530 and dates its work to 2019–2026; Sasaki lists completion as September 2026, and Herzog & de Meuron announced the opening on 18 September 2026. Herzog & de Meuron’s project page, Sasaki’s project page and the opening announcement document the project.
The firms give slightly different area figures: Sasaki reports 144,000 square feet, while Herzog & de Meuron lists a gross floor area of 144,224 square feet (13,398 square metres). These are the figures as reported by each firm, not competing measurements established on a common basis.
How does the building connect the campus?
The site sits between Amherst’s historic upper quad and a lower greenway. The former Merrill-McGuire building obstructed movement and views between them. The new center is organized as a route between entrances at the two elevations: circulation through stairs, passages and shared spaces links the quad level to the greenway and connects student-center uses with dining.
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That makes the project both infrastructure for moving across campus and a place to stop, meet and take part in activities. Herzog & de Meuron describes its intent this way: “The project uses an existing site to create a new building that brings these parts of the campus together.”
What was retained, and what was built new?
Rather than demolish the former structure completely, the project retained and repurposed its concrete frame at the lower two levels, removed the upper portion and added two floors of mass timber. Herzog & de Meuron identifies Canadian black spruce as the timber used in the upper floors. The design sets retained concrete alongside a lighter new structure, making the reuse of the existing building part of the project’s construction strategy as well as its campus connection.
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What spaces and activities does it contain?
The program combines dining, student services, creative work and gathering spaces. The firms describe a dining commons with approximately 900 seats, a kitchen and back-of-house areas, alongside:
- An Alumni Pub and café
- Music practice rooms and a radio station
- A maker space and game area
- Flexible event and banquet spaces
- Cultural resource centers and interfaith gathering spaces
- A winter garden, theater and lounges
These uses give the building a range of activity, from meals and larger events to quieter gathering, cultural and creative pursuits. The spaces sit within the same connected circulation system that links the two campus levels.
What environmental strategies are described?
Herzog & de Meuron presents reuse of the lower concrete structure as a way to reduce material waste and retain embodied carbon. The architect estimates that retaining part of the Merrill-McGuire structure saved approximately 1,900 tonnes of embodied carbon. It also reports an around 93% reduction in projected operational emissions over 60 years. These are architect-reported estimates and projections on the project page, not independently verified outcomes.
Other described strategies include an all-electric building connected to campus energy infrastructure, solar panels, large roof overhangs intended to shade the facade, native planting and on-site stormwater retention. The project descriptions establish the design strategies, but do not provide post-occupancy measured energy results or an independent life-cycle assessment.
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