可容納350名學生住宿，其他空間包括餐廳、視聽室、閱覽室、洗衣間等生活設施，在 2002 年竣工。
Steven Holl 以「孔隙 (porosity)」做為發展概念，建築外表明顯可見的是那些密密麻麻窗戶，原來是每間寢室內都有九個可活動開關的窗戶，幫助空氣流動以及自然光照入，最後這棟「Simmons Hall」獲得了「SPONGE(海綿)」之綽號。
這個為大學生設計的學生宿舍以「多孔性」為設計理念。它是一個10層樓高382英呎長的城市縱切片，包括了一個125人座的劇場、夜間咖啡館，首層平面設有餐廳。「海綿」的概念被轉化為一系列的建築功能和生物技術功能。五個巨大的建築開口與主入口、觀景走廊和室外活動平台相對應。這些巨大、充滿活力的開口空間是建築中的「肺」，將自然光引入建築並形成上升氣流。宿舍的單人間有9個可開啟的窗戶。18英吋厚的牆體可以遮擋夏日的陽光並使直射角較低的冬季陽光進入建築物內並為其供暖。夜晚，從這些窗戶中透出的光充滿韻律和魔力。
來自西蒙斯居民飽含熱愛的評論
穿過正門，你會讚歎西蒙斯宿舍這個傑出的建築和其醒目的設計。從視頻和網絡上找到的資料就會發現，西蒙斯宿舍是一個令人難以置信的宿舍。它擁有成百上千個窗戶，若干個陽台，一個兩層樓高的電影院，一個巨大的球場以及幾十個分散在宿舍內的休息室…沿著走廊溜躂，你會看到西蒙斯宿舍裡充滿生氣的生活。在彎曲的粉筆牆上，可以找到繪有口袋妖怪的圖畫、物理方程以及《權力的遊戲》中的地圖。從一個休息室裡傳來了人們玩棋盤遊戲的笑聲，而另一個休息室內正在舉行大規模的18.02 pset聚會。你可以停下拜訪宿舍長的宿舍，品嚐約翰的美味冰沙，跟隨一群熱情的大一新生，看看我們電子工程實驗室和研討室的最新項目。從前台獲悉即將上映的影片信息，你可以在我們的信箱休息室建立一個遠離街區的新世界。最後在我們的食堂裡，與一群住在西蒙斯宿舍的朋友論暢談在這個「海綿塊」裡的生活。
在一個小時內，大家都陸續起身前往宿舍舉辦的聚會，你的好奇心驅使你去一探究竟。你可以在那裡品嚐一些甜點，結交新朋友，最後還可以參與到西蒙斯的活動中。在這個宿舍裡，你可以輕而易舉的做一些很酷的事情。
在麻省理工學院，所有的宿舍都非常棒，但是相比之下西蒙斯更加包容，開放和友好。它不僅僅是一個居住的場所。別的不說，你只需要記住一件事情：我們把西蒙斯稱之為家，並且期待你的加入。我們迫不及待地想在這個秋天與你見面！
Simmons Hall西蒙斯學生宿舍 作品資訊
作品位置：MIT麻省理工學院
作品類型：學校建築、學生宿舍
建築師：Steven Holl
基地面積：18,116m²
建築面積：21,000m²
總樓地板面積：27,714m²
樓層數：10F
設計時間：1999
竣工時間：2003
公共設施種類：夜間咖啡館、電影院、會議室、交誼聽
床位數：350間
房型配比：皆單人房
Simmons Hall西蒙斯學生宿舍 圖片
Simmons Hall, located at 229 Vassar Street, was designed by architect Steven Holl and dedicated in 2002. At the cost of $78.5 million, it is MIT's most expensive dormitory built on campus since Baker House.
It is 382 feet long and 10 stories tall, housing 350 undergraduates, faculty housemasters, visiting scholars, and graduate assistants. The structure is concrete block perforated with approximately 5,500 square windows each measuring two feet (0.60 meters) on a side, and additional larger and irregularly-shaped windows. An 18" (0.46 meters) wall depth is designed to provide shade in summer while allowing the winter sun to help heat the building, without air conditioning. Unfortunately, the efficacy of such a design is yet to be proven and temperature problems plague parts of the building throughout the year. The students complain that the very small metal window frames and screens create a faraday cage which make it difficult to receive wireless telephone signals. An average single room has nine windows, each with its own small curtain.
Internal design consists of one- and two-person rooms--some in suite-like settings with semi-private bathrooms--and lounges with and without kitchens, roughly arranged into three towers (the "A", "B", and "C" towers). Simmons Hall is one of the four dormitories that have dining halls; the dining facility is open Sunday through Thursday evenings to members of the MIT community.
The building has been nicknamed the "sponge", but opinions on the aesthetics of the building remain strongly divided. On one hand, Simmons Hall won the 2003 American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Architecture, and the 2004 Harleston Parker Medal, administered by the Boston Society of Architects and awarded to the "most beautiful piece of architecture building, monument or structure" in the Boston area. On the other hand, the building has been criticized as being ugly, a sentiment echoed in James Kunstler's "Eyesore of the Month" catalog. Many of the residents of Simmons complain that aesthetics came as a higher priority than functionality. For example, residents in the "A" tower must take two different elevators, or must walk the length of the building twice (more than an eighth of a mile) to reach the dining hall because the "A" elevator does not service the dining hall. Other oddities include staircases that do not offer access to every floor. The lighting in student rooms is sometimes far too dim to be of any use as well.
Additionally, due to the architectural attention given to this building, architects are sometimes found trying to observe student life in the building, an occurrence that the students strongly resent (notices are sometimes sent out by e-mail when architects do enter the building, alerting residents to escort them out).
