Waterbury, Connecticut
Completion Date: August 2009
Owner: State of Connecticut, Department of Education
Program: A three-story public technical high school with 212,000 square feet—82,000 renovated, 130,000 new—including classrooms, offices, science labs, a library, a gymnasium, a wood shop, and an auto shop. The school's programs range from hairdressing and culinary arts to automotive technology, manufacturing technology, and electronics.
Design Concept and Solution: The S/L/A/M Collaborative sought to update a single-story, factory-like building built in 1952 to project an image of technological savvy, reflecting Connecticut's evolving vocational curriculum and its increasing emphasis on technological literacy. The architects demolished a 1970s addition to the steel and masonry structure, eliminating classrooms that had been too small to accommodate the needs of trades such as hairdressing and fashion. They anchored the renovation with a new three-story steel-structure academic wing centered on a skylit atrium. With the principles of early modernism in mind, the architects conceived the school's massing as an asymmetrical series of shapes: a prism for the gymnasium, cylinders for the cafeteria and the academic wing. They treated the building envelope as an abstract sculptural form, using allover textures instead of discrete decorative flourishes. The rounded facade of the academic wing balances lightness and complexity through layers of opacity and transparency—white ground-face concrete block, an aluminum curtain wall with fritted spandrel glass, and gridded aluminum sunscreen framing. To complement the cool, crisp finishes of the new construction, the architects re-clad the existing single-story brick-veneered shop wing with horizontal ribbed metal panels. Like the building massing, the cool-toned interiors rely on the idea of shape as a primary feature. In the atrium, a ziggurat-like open stair spans the full height of the space, and fan-shaped skylights flood the building with light. White porcelain tile and white-painted gypsum board round out the straightforward palette.
Total construction cost: $51.2 million
Architect:
The S/L/A/M Collaborative
80 Glastonbury Boulevard
Glastonbury, CT 06033
860-657-8077 (phone)
860-657-3141 (fax)
PeopleOwner: State of Connecticut, Department of Education Architect: Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit: Project Manager: Kathyann Cowles, AIA (registered); Fred Saehrig, AIA, (registered) Design Architect: Julija Singer, AIA, LEED AP (registered) Programer/Planner: Mary Jo Olenick, AIA (registered) Job Captains: Heather Van Deusen, AIA, LEED AP (registered); James F. Becker, AIA, LEED AP(registered) Staff Architect: Stephen Boehm Interior designer: Engineer(s): Civil/Survey Engineer: Purcell Associates Consultant(s) Structural: Steven Murray, PE, The S/L/A/M Collaborative Other: General contractor: Photographer(s): Renderer(s): CAD system, project management, or other software used: |
ProductsExterior cladding Metal/glass curtainwall: Kawneer Company, Inc. Concrete: Architectural Cast Stone, Inc. Metal Panels: Centria Architectural Systems Roofing Windows Glazing Glass Floor: Paragon Architectural Product Skylights: Super Sky Products, Inc. Doors Metal doors: Cornell Iron Works, Inc. Wood doors: Marshfield Door Systems, Inc. Fire-control doors, security grilles: Cornell Iron Works, Inc. Hardware: Sargent, Assa Abloy Interior finishes Demountable partitions: Corbin Hufcor, Folding Partition Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: Emidio Woodworking, Inc. Paints and stains: Valspar; Scuffmaster; ICI Plastic laminate: Wilsonart Special surfacing: Dur-A-Flex Stonhard Resinous Flooring Wood Flooring: Floor and wall tile: Bisazza-Bathroom Curved Wall Daltile: Locker rooms,Trade Wings, Kitchen floors, Elevator Enclosure Atlas Concorde: Lobby floors Graniti Reali Tile: Cafeteria Royal Mosa: Servery, Kitchen Resilient flooring: Carpet: Lighting Exterior: Cooper Lighting Conveyance |
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