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David Edward Hronek

David Edward Hronek

Redwood City, CA, US

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Front exterior view of the Science and Mathematics Center; new Learning Center in foreground
Front exterior view of the Science and Mathematics Center; new Learning Center in foreground
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Lady Ivy Kwok Wu Science and Mathematics Center, The Taft School

One of two interventions on the venerable Taft School campus, a coeducational boarding school founded by Horace Taft in 1890, combine to remake the academic heart of the school. The Lady Ivy Kwok Wu Science and Mathematics Center, or “the Wu”, is a 48,000 SF STEM facility housing all mathematics classrooms; science labs for chemistry, biology, earth science, physics disciplines; faculty offices, the Writing Center, and the Wu Computer Lab for students in grades nine through post graduate. As part of a larger campus reorganization, the Center’s architecture, inspired by the original Gothic buildings by James Gamble Rogers and Bertram Goodhue, wraps the existing library’s façade to creating a new learning center and other amenities along the edge of an enlarged campus pond. Taken together, the new Mathematics and Science Center and expanded library create an educational center that presents a cohesive whole while unifying the renowned campus architecture.

 
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Status: Built
Location: Watertown, CT, US
My Role: Lab Consultant Project Manager, Lab Programming and Planning
Additional Credits: Architect of Record - Gund Partnership

 
Typical Biology Classroom/Lab
Typical Biology Classroom/Lab
Typical Mathematics Classroom/Lab
Typical Mathematics Classroom/Lab
Typical Chemistry Classroom/Lab
Typical Chemistry Classroom/Lab
Learning Center Main Reading Room
Learning Center Main Reading Room
The main stair circulation is animated by an illustrated history of science from the lever at the ground floor, to the computer chip at the top floor.
The main stair circulation is animated by an illustrated history of science from the lever at the ground floor, to the computer chip at the top floor.
View of the Science and Mathematics Center from the expanded pond, the focal point and 'heart' of the campus.
View of the Science and Mathematics Center from the expanded pond, the focal point and "heart" of the campus.