Lafayette College

Arts Plaza

Lafayette College Arts Plaza 

PHOTOS © BARRY HALKIN PHOTOGRAPHY, COURTESY OF SPILLMAN FARMER ARCHITECTS

The $1.7-million, 7,000-square-foot Arts Plaza is a raw, open-air space for the arts at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. Spillman Farmer Architects of Bethlehem, PA, served as the project’s architect. The project transformed a former auto-repair facility into a dynamic outdoor teaching space that responds to its natural environment and built context. Designed as an outdoor black box theater, the plaza hosts a wide variety of planned and spontaneous artistic endeavors, including performance art, visual art exhibits and small group musical performances.

The Arts Plaza received a Citation of Merit from The American Institute of Architects, Pennsylvania Chapter.

The project is a distillation of the existing structure. The facility’s concrete platform foundation and timber frame, both salvaged and re-utilized elements of the former building, are complemented by newly introduced masonry and steel. Inside the plaza, the design team repaired and refinished the concrete floor slab. The existing structure and new interventions work together, telling a story of history and use, while creating a new identity for the space.

The Arts Plaza introduces new materials, such as brick and steel, in unconventional ways. They lend a tactile, experiential quality to the space, while honoring the city’s prevailing architecture. The plaza’s masonry walls are clad with clinker brick; a cast off of the brickmaking process, whose curvature and malformations are accented, rather than minimized. The brick’s curvature and imperfections provide texture and counterbalance the well-organized, restrained space.

The selection of humble materials and the repurposing of many elements of the old structure represent Spillman Farmer’s signature design approach of utilizing familiar, utilitarian materials to create extraordinary architectural results. This philosophy steered the design process that has resulted in a dramatic, yet elegant and restrained arts complex that complements the post-industrial urban environment of Easton and provides a new gateway for the college.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • University of Connecticut Upgrades Basketball Facility’s AV Systems

    The University of Connecticut recently partnered with Metinteractive to upgrade the AV systems of the Gampel Pavilion basketball facility on its campus in Mansfield, Conn., according to a news release.

  • Texas A&M Adds ALPR Technology to Parking Solutions

    Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, recently integrated automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology into its parking services and enforcement strategies, according to a news release. The university’s Transportation Services division deployed Genetec AutoVu ALPR to manage the campus’ 36,000+ parking spaces.

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2025 New Product Awards

    Spaces4Learning is now accepting entries for the 2025 New Product Awards! The program’s goal is to honor the outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products and services are particularly noteworthy in helping to improve K–12 and Higher Education learning environments.

  • Illinois Elementary School Breaks Ground on Campus Expansion

    Heather Hill Elementary School, part of Flossmoor School District 161 in Palatine, Ill., recently broke ground on a new addition to the school focused on student support and security, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects & Engineers for the expansion as part of a longer-term facility planning and modernization initiative.

Digital Edition