Architecture News

Grace Farms Sets Date for Opening of its SANAA-Designed Complex

By Joann Gonchar, FAIA

The Grace Farms building consists of a 1,400-foot-long pergola that meanders through the rolling terrain.<div id='_mcePaste'> — Grace Farms Sets Date for Opening of its SANAA-Designed Complex
The Grace Farms building consists of a 1,400-foot-long pergola that meanders through the rolling terrain.

Image courtesy Grace Farms and SANAA

Shown here under construction in late March, the 86,000-square-foot structure will be surrounded by a landscape designed by OLIN in collaboration with SANAA.<div id='_mcePaste'> — Grace Farms Sets Date for Opening of its SANAA-Designed Complex
Shown here under construction in late March, the 86,000-square-foot structure will be surrounded by a landscape designed by OLIN in collaboration with SANAA.

Photo © Dean Kaufman

The underside of the snaking pergola’s roof will be clad in Douglas fur.<div id='_mcePaste'> — Grace Farms Sets Date for Opening of its SANAA-Designed Complex
The underside of the snaking pergola’s roof will be clad in Douglas fur.

Photo © Dean Kaufman

Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA inspects the construction progress inside the gymnasium in late March. The double-story space is sunk one level below grade in order to minimize its impact on the landscape.<div — Grace Farms Sets Date for Opening of its SANAA-Designed Complex
Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA inspects the construction progress inside the gymnasium in late March. The double-story space is sunk one level below grade in order to minimize its impact on the landscape.

Photo © Dean Kaufman

Architects & Firms

SANAA

The Grace Farms Foundation, a New Canaan, Connecticut-based non-profit with a multifarious mission focused on faith, justice, and community, has announced that it will officially open its new complex on October 9. Now nearing completion on the group’s 75 acres of former farmland is an 86,000-square-foot building designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese firm SANAA. Dubbed “the river” because it consists of a 1,400-foot-long pergola that meanders through the rolling terrain, the glass, wood, and steel structure incorporates pod-like volumes that house a dining room, an indoor amphitheater, and a gymnasium, under what is essentially a single roof.

The foundation will operate much like a nature preserve and retreat, hosting events such as film screenings, book signings, and symposia. The surrounding landscape, designed by Philadelphia-based OLIN in collaboration with SANAA, will feature publicly accessible walking trails, picnic areas, and site-specific artwork, including a sound installation by Susan Philipsz and a light-based piece by Olafur Eliasson.

KEYWORDS: Connecticut Grace Farms

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Joann Gonchar, FAIA, LEED AP, is deputy editor at Architectural Record. She joined RECORD in 2006, after working for eight years at its sister publication, Engineering News-Record. Before starting her career as a journalist, Joann worked for several architecture firms and spent three years in Kobe, Japan, with the firm Team Zoo, Atelier Iruka. She earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. She is licensed to practice architecture in New York State.