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

  • blurry image capturing students navigating crowded hallways between classes

    How Human Behavior Data Is Reshaping Campus Facilities Management

    The ebb and flow of students, faculty, and administrators across a campus have a larger impact on maintenance, cleaning, and sustainability than many realize.

  • Niles West High School Natatorium Renovation

    Natatoriums are highly specialized spaces, and luminaires in this setting face several unique challenges. Perhaps the most significant is corrosion, which is exacerbated by high indoor humidity, condensation, and pool chemicals, often resulting in material degradation in luminaires not certified to perform in corrosive environments.

  • Massachusetts K–12 District Selects Architect for New Junior High

    Swansea Public Schools in Swansea, Mass., recently announced that it has selected Finegold Alexander Architects to design a new junior high school for the district, according to a news release. The firm will create the Feasibility Study and Schematic Design for Joseph Case Junior High School after a lengthy selection process by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Acquires VPS Architecture

    Full-service planning, architecture, and engineering firm Wold Architects & Engineers recently announced that it has acquired VPS Architecture, according to a news release. The move will help strengthen Wold’s education and public-sector design expertise, industries in which both companies have strong pre-existing ties and relationships.