The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Sykes Residence

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Sykes Residence (three-quarter view), St. Lawrence University

Institution Name: St. Lawrence University
Original/Historic Place Name: Men's Residence
Location on Campus: Park St.
Date(s) of Construction:

1930-1931

original construction Sibley, Ernest Licht, Lawrence C.

Designer: Ernest Sibley and Lawrence C. Licht
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Regionalist/Vernacular (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, education, religion
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: concrete and stone

Walls: concrete and stone

Roof: slate

Function:

ca. 1930-present (2006)

residence hall (originally men's, currently co-ed)

Narrative:
"Let good use justify what good will has here erected."

Sykes Residence Hall is the largest building on the campus and is also one of the most structurally complex. Four joined wings form a square around a large interior court, and two large parallel wings are attached to the east side. Stylistically, the building is Georgian revival, finished in the same white Morley limestone as the Gunnison Chapel and Hepburn Hall. Classical woodwork trims the windows, doorways and roofline.

The interior of the building contains over one mile of corridors, and was originally laid out in six "houses" with a master's suite, dormitory rooms, bathrooms, and separate entrances. With the influx of students after WWII, the attic floor was made habitable by the installation of rows of dormer windows. The public areas were finished in an appropriate Colonial revival style. A common room features a high beamed ceiling, wainscoting, end paneled walls with fireplaces and original reproductions of 18th century furniture. Hidden features provided for the presentation of motion pictures and radio programs. Similar Colonial revival style details are also found in the sunken dining room and cafeteria and in the second floor library. The building continues to be used as a men's residence hall.

References:

Baule, John A. St. Lawrence University--Old Campus Historic District. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1974.

"St. Lawrence University, Canton, N.Y. Ernest Sibley and Lawrence C. Licht, Architects."Architectural Forum 55 (November 1931): 545-52.