Concord Academy - CA Labs

Concord, Massachusetts

Sustainability Study Hand Sketch

CA Labs represents an integrated approach to learning environments, supporting interwoven disciplines and dynamic pedagogies. Spaces support this ideology by enabling faculty to deliver an experiential and multidisciplinary curriculum more effectively through departmentally enabled learning environments. Flexible laboratories are equipped to support the blurred boundaries between science, language, history, math, and co-curricular activities. Rather than construct a new free-standing facility, this renovation and addition project adaptively reuses an outdated structure, giving it new life as an architectural contributor to the campus. The addition provides adaptable space for innovative programming while providing an iconic and timeless face of creativity and collaboration to the Quad. The building’s design enhances opportunities for interactive learning, with whiteboards and educational graphics strategically placed along interior corridors.

Large windows draw in light into previously closed-off learning environments, and walls made of operable glass systems help to redefine the boundaries of the classroom. The sustainable design focus creates opportunities for educational expeditions outside, with the inclusion of a green roof, equipped with telescopes and a weather station for hands-on learning. Air-to-air electric heat pumps provide efficient and comfortable indoor air quality. The project also recalibrated the entry sequence into the main building complex. A new exterior plaza, lobby, and staircase encourage gathering and allow for circulation between all facilities. The design rejuvenates the Quad as the Campus’s main gathering space and is an elegant cooperation of old and new, carefully integrated into the historic downtown.

Landscape Architect

Crowley Cottrell

Civil Engineer

Oak Consulting Group, LLC

Structural Engineer

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Inc.

MEP/FP Engineer

Allied Consulting Engineering Services, Inc.

Construction Manager

C.E. Floyd Company, Inc.

Lighting

Collaborative Lighting, LLC

Graphic Designer

Anna Farrington Graphic Arts & Design

Stewardship Meets Innovation

Composition

The architectural design benefits of the Science Center are multifaceted. For occupants and local community members, the design translates the historic vernacular of campus into a new, forward looking architectural vocabulary that fits in and stands out. Importantly, the project communicates stewardship of the existing campus fabric through the renovation and a commitment to a transparent and sustainable future through the addition and new entrance tower. The project demonstrates an ability to weave together the chronicle of architectural history, responses to global climate and social justice challenges, and through these investments, generations of past and future community members.