To Iowa State Student Body President Cole Staudt, the newest addition to Iowa State’s landscape is something that embodies the impact the student voice has on campus.

“Gregory L. Geoffroy Hall,” or rather Geoffroy Hall, opened its doors to students on Thursday, nearly two years after being approved by the Iowa Board of Regents.

Staudt, who has previously served as the vice president of the Inter-Residence Hall Association, worked closely with administration during the planning of the building, particularly involving the design.

Geoffroy Hall will inevitably help ease the growing pains of the university and its enrollment as it has a capacity of 784 students and tops out at seven floors.

It is named after Iowa State’s former president Gregory Geoffroy, who retired in 2012.

“A lot of people in the Ames community and throughout the country know President Geoffroy and his work at Iowa State,” said Brittney Rutherford, the program coordinator with the Department of Residence and ISU Dining.

Geoffroy, apart from being Iowa State’s 14th president, is also a nationally acclaimed researcher in organometallic chemistry and has published more than 200 research articles in refereed journals.

The new residence hall is still under some minor construction as the outside landscaping will not be worked on until the spring and summer seasons.

For the residence hall itself, it is traditional-style, and each house has two bathrooms and a den, along with a common space throughout the hallways, according to the Department of Residence website.

The houses on each floor are connected by a “front porch” that overlooks campus and is meant to be a gathering space for the residents.

Geoffroy Hall also contains more than 15 study rooms, a hall desk, a lounge, an activity room and a kitchenette, according to the Department of Residence. It also has a laundry room at the lowest level.

Staudt said that in planning aspects of the building, such as the ones mentioned above, the Department of Residence was open to the voices of the students and what they would like to see in the new residence hall.

Director of the Department of Residence Pete Englin reiterated during a residence hall tour with Iowa State President Steven Leath in November the presence students had in the process.

“This concept when we were charged with the idea of adding some additional housing the way in which this was all designed and the layout and the kind of ways in which we created the spaces was informed by our students, IRHA,” he said. “So we went to them and said, ‘We’re interested in some additional housing here on campus, what should it look like?’ And so this is what they came up with.”

Ringing in at a price of $49.5 million, Geoffroy Hall began its construction — headed by the Opus Group — in early May 2015 and was move-in ready by the end of December 2016.

Aaron Dejoode, a community adviser in Geoffroy Hall, said that when it comes to living in Geoffroy Hall he is most excited and honored to get the opportunity to start a new community and to be a part of the foundation for future communities in years to come.

And for the coolest thing about Geoffrey Hall, Dejoode said he believes it is the bathrooms.

“Geoffroy also has individual bathroom stalls, which offers a significant amount of privacy while using the restroom or showering,” he said. “This sets Geoffroy so that potentially in the future, it could become one of the first gender neutral housing places on campus.”

For freshman Piper Mauck, who has never lived in a residence hall before, she said that her first impression of the building was that it was very different from what she was expecting it to be.

“I was expecting suite-style, but the mattresses are brand new and everything is brand new, and there are lots of study rooms,” Mauck said.

Another unique aspect of Geoffroy Hall is the artwork that will be added during the summer — a way to intersect the students into the building.

“The artist that was chosen is Mickalene Thomas, and she’s got some pretty cool work,” Rutherford said. “She is out of New York, and we are hoping to send a student there over spring break to help with the project.”

Dejoode said that Geoffroy Hall will also be later equipped with a gaming system with ‘80s and ‘90s games on it and other technology.

“The building is set up perfectly to create an amazing sense of community within the hall,” Dejoode said. “This is difficult, though not impossible, with the few residents we have.”

Geoffroy Hall is just one of the new changes that the 2016-17 academic year has brought, particularly in the Department of Residence and student housing.

One of these changes included students being housed in the Memorial Union, where the hotel previously was.

“Our growth [has] outpaced enrollment growth,” Rutherford said. “That basically means that students choose to live with us for a year and then they come back for that second year and some even for that third and fourth year.”

She said the department is excited, however, for the opportunity to serve more people in the way she feels they actually want to be served.

Geoffroy Hall, which is located just off Lincoln Way next to Buchanan Hall, does not have a dining center in it nor a convenience store, however, this did not seem to bother many of its residents.

Mauck said that while she probably won’t be eating too much at the Memorial Union, she’ll eat the majority of her meals at Conversations or Seasons Marketplace, which is just a short walk from Geoffroy.

Iowa State will also be seeing a new dining center in the coming months, as Friley Windows will be opening in August 2017.

“That will be on the side of Friley that faces Lake Laverne,” Rutherford said. “You can see the construction signs up there now. That will be about 300 to 350 seating capacity. It will be open all day, early in the morning through late at night.”

Among other projects the Department of Residence will be starting in the near future includes a major project in the Richardson Court area and Wallace and Wilson residence halls.

“The ability to be able to give some attention to those other buildings that haven’t had it for a few years makes our overall inventory better for our students,” Rutherford said.