Fairfield University will officially house students in a section of the Media Center starting in the Fall 2026 semester after the Town of Fairfield’s Plan and Zoning Commission approved a proposal for new sophomore housing near the Barlow Road entrance.

The new building configuration will house 168 students in 64 bedrooms, most of which will be set as triple accommodations, as reported last year by The Rearview.

According to the documents submitted by the University in 2024, the rooms in the new residence hall are designed for triple occupancy and feature a private bathroom. However, the plans reviewed by The Mirror show that the only four rooms intended for double occupancy are reserved to “accommodate accessible space requirements.”

While the building and its 168 beds are not listed in the Office of Residence Life’s 2025-2026 Housing Lottery Information guide, the University told The Mirror that the new building will be ready for the start of the new academic year.

In a statement, the University said it was pleased with the approval and celebrated the project as part of its commitment to “meet the evolving needs of our students.”

“The building, which once served as a conference center before becoming the Dolan School of Business, is already well-suited for dormitory use, with rooms configured as bedrooms and equipped with individual bathrooms,” said a University spokesperson while adding that the academic side of the building will remain in the facility.

The reconfiguration of the building as sophomore housing will mark the first time students have lived in the old School of Business building since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the university used the facilities as on-campus quarantine housing for students who tested positive for the virus. 

Most recently, the conference center served as one of the two Fairfield early voting locations for the 2024 general election.

Along with the 168 beds, the reconfiguration of the former conference center will add about 80 new parking spaces, eight of which will be for electric vehicles.

New residential halls have been added over the past years due to the increasing number of students accepted to Fairfield. Bowman Hall and Dulles Hall, the two newest residential buildings, have been dedicated to sophomore housing.

“Through these initiatives, Fairfield University continues to cultivate a dynamic residential environment that not only supports academic success but also nurtures personal growth, community, and a sense of belonging among our students,” said Jennifer Anderson, Fairfield’s vice president of marketing and communication.

In addition to the renovation of the former school of business, the Office of Residence Life shared with The Mirror that they will be looking at starting building renovations to Loyola Hall and ClaverHall, two residence halls that house first-year and sophomore students, respectively.

According to the office, over the next two summers, renovations and construction work will be done in Loyola Hall to upgrade the facilities.

At Claver Hall, the renovations will include upgrades to the bathrooms, which are often the source of student complaints due to the frequency of mold issues.

There is no construction expected for the fall of 2025.

The building plans for the new sophomore residence hall were designed by Newman Architects, the same studio that renovated the first-year residence halls in the Quad and designed most of the newer buildings on campus.