Boston, MA and Poughkeepsie, NY (July 19, 2022)—Ann Beha Architects, now Annum Architects, celebrated the groundbreaking for the 107,000 SF new Dyson Center at Marist College, home to Marist’s distinguished Schools of Management and Social and Behavioral Sciences. 

The Dyson Center is set in the heart of the Marist campus, creating a destination and critical new academic resource for the entire campus community. Its Adirondack granite facade and large expanses of glass offer a contemporary response to the campus’ stately Hudson River traditions. Supporting specific programs, the design also offers common ground for everyone. Its central atrium, connecting four levels of program spaces, offers informal seating and workspace opening to a café, Career Center, Investment Center, and a new lecture hall for college programs. More than 100 faculty are accommodated in workplace “neighborhoods”, flanked by classrooms and collaborative settings.

A clear design approach to materials, intuitive wayfinding, and sustainability were paramount to the architectural approach. The new Dyson incorporates and expands an existing 1990’s building, retaining its structure, a strategy that deploys existing resources and limits new footprint, protecting outdoor space, and gathering areas. A high performance envelope, regionally-sourced materials, and prefabricated construction techniques, are among key sustainable features. The penthouse level, recessed to moderate height and mass, offers additional classrooms, and spectacular views of the Hudson River.

Annum Principal Steven Gerrard AIA noted, “The new Dyson Center is rooted in the campus legacy of solid stone buildings, but Dyson opens up with key moments of transparency and lightness, inviting students to pass through the building, and hang out in the central atrium.” The Dyson Center is a contemporary response to a family of campus buildings, supporting academic innovation, inclusion, and future thinking.