A five-minute walk from Purdue University’s campus, Verve West Lafayette is an elevated archetype of student housing deep in the heart of America’s heartland. Encircled by other student housing projects but standing out above them all, Verve West Lafayette’s site harmonizes with the surrounding collegiate community, providing residents with extensive opportunities to eat, explore, shop, and have fun within the young, walkable neighborhood. Drawing inspiration from the Union Club hotel and West Lafayette’s historic downtown, and differentiated by an authentically relaxed, yet provocative design, Verve West Lafayette utilizes its connection to its surroundings to reflect and enhance the local spirit of West Lafayette. Embracing the area’s deep historical ties to the railroad industry, wall graphics featuring trains are curated within the welcome lobby alongside Verve’s signature leasing bar. The leasing bar serves coffee to residents and visitors by day and transforms into a social space that allows student residents to mingle by night. Within the foyer, a massive concrete staircase guides residents between the first-floor lobby and the second-story mezzanine and shared amenity spaces on both floors, which include a computer lab, a micro-market, a club kitchen, and a fitness area complete with a sauna. Game rooms were swapped for wellness areas, granting round-the-clock access to invigorating active spaces like the yoga studio or the tranquil meditation chambers. A huge swirling slide escorts residents from the upper-level amenities to the first-floor study lounge, striking a fun balance between work and play. Balancing the desire for focused, heads-down workspaces with Verve’s Unlonely Mission, a blend of studious study pods and active social spaces like the TV room or the club kitchen and lounge give residents the flexibility to interact with one another when and how they want. Implementing design directions that are simultaneously fun and sophisticated, Verve West Lafayette recasts the traditional student housing project in the look and feel of a refined young professional property. It’s a place for students who, like the trains that inspired the Purdue Boilermakers, are on the fast track to a bright future.