School and Arts & Student Center Breaks Ground

The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM), a Glastonbury-based national architecture firm, completed programming, design, and documentation for the 27,800 square-foot renovation and addition of the Five Arts & Student Center at St. Timothy’s School, a private all-girls high school established in 1882. The project broke ground on Fri., Feb. 2 and construction is estimated to be completed in December 2018. SLAM is also providing structural engineering, landscape architecture, and cost estimating services. 

“We are pleased to partner with St. Timothy’s in this important enhancement project that will provide students, faculty and staff with a quality arts, academic and student activity space on campus that matches the high-quality educational experience currently afforded students,” says Richard Connell, FAIA, SLAM principal-in-charge. “The space transformation will also benefit the public through a new art gallery space, where art by students, the community, and visiting artists will be exhibited.”

The former, two-story Hannah More Arts Center, now named the Five Arts & Student Center, home to programs in literature, theatre, dance, visual arts and music, will undergo a renovation including a new contemporary façade and an additional floor to the structure.  Other significant upgrades to the facility will include a refurbished 320-seat theater featuring new seats, lighting and A/V, a full-service Health and Wellness Center, additional classroom space for the English Department, and an expanded 1,000 square-foot Art Gallery. The courtyard located between the Five Arts & Student Center and dining facility will be redesigned with new ornamental trees, benches and new pavers, creating a more welcoming space to relax in between classes in the outdoors.

SLAM’s previous work on campus includes the design of The Commons and Redland Café and Dixon Hall, the main Academic Building.

Featured

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • NWEA Report Recommends K–12 Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies

    The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a K–12 assessment and research organization, recently announced the release of a new playbook for schools and communities recovering from extreme weather events, according to a news release.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • Illinois State University Breaks Ground on College of Fine Arts Transformation

    Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts transformation project, according to university news. The series of new constructions and renovations will upgrade spaces in Centennial East, the Center for the Visual Arts, and the Center for the Performing Arts, as well as replace the existing Centennial West facility with a new Commons Building.