The University of California, Santa Barbara, has dropped plans for a $1.5 billion on-campus dormitory that students and community members said looked like a jail because of its lack of windows in dorm rooms, and is seeking proposals for a new design team.

UCSB is not pursuing the former project called Munger Hall, named after Charles Munger, the billionaire vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and university donor. Munger, while not an architect, helped design the former proposed dorm in partnership with Santa Monica, California-based architecture firm VTBS. Munger had promised to donate $200 million to the college if it used his design.

UCSB is seeking requests for qualifications for an executive architect to design a new dorm proposal that is expected to be smaller and less expensive than Munger Hall. The RFQ outlines plans for the "UCSB Student Housing Infill and Redevelopment Project" comprising two phases and to be valued between $600 million and $750 million. It is expected to add at least 3,500 student beds to the campus.

Proposals are due Aug. 18. The winning design firm will be notified on Sept. 28.

Student housing projects are ramping up nationwide amid surging demand from university students. Many new developments are located off-campus, such as proposed projects near the University of South Carolina in Columbia and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Investors are drawn to the student housing segment. Private equity firm TPG said during its latest earnings call that it’s seeking to deploy $6 billion of “dry powder” into real estate and other investments and identified student housing as a target area.

UCSB has struggled for years to provide housing for its growing student population, but high property costs in the Southern California city have proven to be an obstacle, according to the Santa Barbara Independent.

Kiki Reyes, a university spokesperson, said in an emailed statement that "we remain committed to addressing the housing needs of our student body in a thoughtful and comprehensive manner."

Munger is reportedly no longer involved with the project. Last year he dismissed the design criticism to the Real Deal as "ridiculous" and said the university needed the housing.

The initial design for Munger Hall called for a 1.7 million-square-foot dorm, rising 12 stories with enough rooms for 4,500 students, which some said would make it the world's largest dorm. Students, parents and community members blasted the design due to its size and because the vast majority of rooms lacked windows. Groups also criticized the design for a lack of entry doors to the outside.

While the building's exterior has windows, virtually all of the individual rooms are located within the interior and have no access to daylight. Rooms with windows and Pacific Ocean views were designed to be community gathering spaces. Studies have shown that dorms without rooms have led to mental health issues for students, according to the Architect's Newspaper.

Dennis McFadden, a Southern California architect, resigned from a university design review committee in 2021 over the dorm’s blueprints. McFadden called the design “unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent and a human being,” according to the Santa Barbara Independent.

UCSB officials later reduced the size and scope of the dorm, but still couldn’t convince student and community groups to support it.