Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

VMA Completes Baldwin School Innovation Center Adaptive Reuse Project

  • By Matt Jones
  • 04/11/23

Voith and Mactavish Architects recently announced the completion of an adaptive reuse project at The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Penn. According to a project narrative, the firm converted a poolhouse into an interdisciplinary and collaborative education center. The Baldwin School is an all-girls’ school for students PreK–12, and the narrative explains that one fundamental challenge of the project was to make the space safe and accessible for students of all ages.

VMA Baldwin School Innovation Center
Image courtesy of Voith and Mactavish Architects

The original building covered roughly 3,500 square feet and served mainly as an open space with an excavated pool. The pool itself was converted into a sunken seating area accessible by steps or a ramp.

The purpose of the project was to create a new space where students can learn, make, and share. The space also offers flexible tables and seating to allow for an infinite array of easy reconfigurations. It includes storage, whiteboards, and display space at lower levels for younger students, as well as a makerspace with 3D printers and crafting tools for older students.

Finishes include neutral colors and materials like a wood flooring and ceiling to create a clean, orderly, dynamic space. The space features white surfaces with blue detail, combined with bright colorful cushions spaced throughout for a pop of color. The space also includes an adjacent courtyard patio accessible through French doors that visually connects the space with the rest of the campus and also filling the interior with natural light.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.

  • 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.

  • Colorado School District Breaks Ground on Unified PK–12 Campus

    The Haxtun School District No. Re-2J in Haxtun, Colo., recently announced that ground has been broken on a renovation/addition project that will unite its two schools, Haxtun Elementary and Haxtun Jr/Sr High School, according to a news release.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.