The Hotchkiss School is an independent, coeducational boarding school for 600 students in grades 9-12 located in Lakeville, Connecticut. Bowie Gridley Architects was commissioned to reimagine the school’s dining hall, which was constructed in 1948, to create a larger community dining and gathering venue that would celebrate Hotchkiss’s unique, highly sustainable, farm-to-table dining program. BGA led a highly collaborative programming process that engaged students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents. This process generated great excitement and ownership of the project by the whole Hotchkiss community. BGA’s design approach seeks to preserve the warm, comfortable feeling of the main dining space that is fondly remembered by alumni and cherished by current students and faculty, while also providing a completely new, modern food service experience that connects the harvesting, preparation and serving of the food. The building’s exterior architecture has been redesigned to open the building’s interior to the exterior landscape, to enhance views outward, and act as a focal point for several adjacent prominent outdoor quads.
Archive for the ‘On the Boards’ Category
The Hotchkiss School
Wednesday, May 8th, 2019Flint Hill School
Friday, May 3rd, 2019The new 49,500 sf Middle School will be an Innovation Lab for the 7th and 8th grades, embracing experimentation and creativity. This exciting new environment will allow for questioning and exploration across the academic spectrum. Founded on 21st century learning principles, this school will fully support project-based learning in group and individual formats as well as other paradigms in the future. The industrial design of the building presents a flexible learning environment to allow for easy changes in space and curriculum. A long terrace incorporates seating overlooking the field.
St. Paul’s School Upper School Building
Monday, October 17th, 2016BGA is currently designing a new classroom building for St. Paul’s School in Baltimore Maryland. The three story building will contain classrooms, science labs, STEM labs, administrative spaces, a learning center, and other program functions for the Upper School, grades 9-12. The design is intended to consolidate currently scattered program elements into a central location and to provide a vibrant STEM centered learning environment. The proposed 60,000 sq. ft. building will replace the existing upper school building which will be demolished. The building plan is organized around a new exterior plaza which will unite the existing Library (Fisher Hall) and the Chapel creating an important outdoor gathering area. Considerable effort has been made to unify the new design with the existing campus context, scale and materials palette. Construction is scheduled for 2018 with occupancy in the fall of 2019.
Park School Master Plan
Monday, October 17th, 2016Park School, a non-sectarian progressive co-ed day school, selected BGA to evaluate the current state of their 57-year old campus located on a meandering and steep wooded site. Working collaboratively with the school, BGA developed a Statement of Needs which analyzed how well the facilities support the school’s mission and identified potential new facilities. A main priority of the Master Plan will be a new middle school with larger classrooms that provide a flexible environment, enabling project-based learning. A new cafeteria, café, and school store will allow engagement with the outdoors and views to the pond—a signature element of the site. The creation of a highly visible designated main entrance needed for campus security and visitor wayfinding is also planned. The lower and upper schools will expand into the vacated Middle School space, renovated to gain additional science and robotics labs, more common space, and quiet study areas.
St. John’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall
Monday, December 15th, 2014The historic St. John’s Episcopal Church Lafayette Square commissioned Bowie Gridley Architects to perform a Master Plan of the full site, the church and the adjacent Parish Hall house. The main sanctuary of the church was restored in 2009 by BGA largely addressing the interior including new acoustics, a new organ, lighting, finishes and mechanical/electrical systems upgrade. The current project replaces the two-story connector building, adding a third floor, and the complete renovation of existing Parish Hall.
