Archinect - News

Three contemporary education projects by Newman Architects: Your Next Employer?

2024-04-15T13:39:00-04:00

Following our previous visit to San Francisco-based WRNS Studio, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Connecticut this week to explore the work of Newman Architects.

Based in New Haven, the firm was founded in 1964 with the principle of “creating functional, nurturing environments that have a sense of belonging to the communities they serve.” Over the following decades, the firm has built a portfolio including educational, commercial, and community projects which have garnered over 150 awards, including an AIA/ALA Library Building Award for their Slover Library in Norfolk, VA.

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for a Marketing Coordinator / Graphic Designer to join their New Haven office. For candidates interested in applying for a position, or anybody interested in learning about the firm’s output, we have rounded up three education projects by Newman Architects that exemplify the studio’s ethos.

Lynn University Snyder Sanctuary. Image courtesy: New...

New York’s School Construction Authority is preparing for a school building boom

2023-08-25T17:41:00-04:00

The body in charge of K-12 planning and construction in New York City was recently profiled by the AIA New York as it prepares for a surge in student enrollment that’s expected over the next decade.

The New York School Construction Authority (or SCA) is a specialty city agency that employs 1,100 people and is tasked with the delivery and maintenance of school buildings in the New York City Public Schools arsenal, a charge which makes it directly responsible for the well-being, safety, and learning environments of more than 1.1 million students.

With a staff that currently includes 170 architects, Stephen Zacks for the AIANY writes the SCA has a unique talent when it comes to the delivery of high-quality structures within challenging construction schedules and have become national examples of the implementation of efficient project management at...

HOK designs quantum research facility for Caltech with glass prism facade

2023-08-25T11:41:00-04:00

Caltech has held the groundbreaking ceremony for the HOK-designed Ginsburg Center for Quantum Precision Measurement in Pasadena, California. Upon its projected completion in 2025, the center is set to become “one of the world’s most advanced hubs for studying quantum science and technology.”

Image credit: HOK

The four-story building will house research offices, meeting rooms, and dedicated collaboration areas, with laboratories strategically located at the basement level to minimize disturbances from noise and vibrations. Externally, a transparent facade on the south and west sides is designed to “suggest a prism or the bending of spacetime, an allusion to research that will take place in the building.”

In an effort to foster community and collaboration, parts of the ground floor are recessed to provide room for greenery and open spaces for outdoor gatherings. The design further encourages interaction with glass panel doors and a breezeway linked to a neighboring seminar room, enabli...

SCAPE, ARO, and Colloqate design Brooklyn high school campus with a hydroponics greenhouse and outdoor teaching spaces

2023-05-05T14:40:00-04:00

A team comprising SCAPE, Architecture Research Office (ARO), and Colloqate has unveiled a vision for a high school campus in Brooklyn with anti-racism, climate action, sustainable food systems, environmental justice, and experimental learning at the heart of its curriculum. The Launch School at Floyd Bennet Field will be constructed on a former airfield along the shores of Jamaica Bay, and will see a series of connective outdoor hallways knitting together buildings and landscapes.

Image credit: SCAPE

The design of the 7-acre campus embodies a ‘learning by doing’ approach featuring a refurbished and modernized central building, an urban farm and outdoor classroom, and a harvest and sensory garden. The campus will also hold a greenhouse with hydroponics, a central community hall, and spaces for outdoor art, teaching, performance, and exploration.

Image credit: SCAPE

“Launch at Floyd Bennett Field is an unprecedented opportunity to build a world-class educational ecosystem for communitie...

MAD Architects completes YueCheng Courtyard Kindergarten

2020-11-25T12:24:00-05:00

MAD Architects has completed the YueCheng Courtyard Kindergarten in Beijing as a part of a commission in 2017. The project site, covering an area of 9,275 square meters, consisted of an original 18th-century Siheyuan courtyard, an adjacent replica courtyard built in the 1990s, and a four-story modern building. Following its completion at the end of 2019, the kindergarten now serves as a pre-school for 390 children.

"When I looked back at my own kindergarten years, and even the ones I saw after I grew up, I always wondered what it is that kids long for the most," said Ma Yansong in a statement. "Perhaps it is freedom and love. A kindergarten doesn't always have to offer complex hardware or fixtures, but it must always make kids feel freedom and love – something that leads them to endless possibilities."

As part of the design, MAD chose to remove the replica courtyard outside the 19th-century original and replace it with a new space that envelops the Siheyuan courtyard. This new buil...

LMN Architects' Plant Sciences Building at Washington State University opens

2020-11-18T14:33:00-05:00

Previously covered on Archinect, the Plant Sciences Building at Washington State University has officially opened. Designed and constructed by design-build team of Skanska and LMN Architects, the facility will be the new center for interdisciplinary research that will integrate faculty and students in plant biochemistry, pathology, horticulture, and crop and soil sciences into a single space.

"This isn't just a building—it's a braintrust for the future of Washington agriculture," said Vicky Scharlau, Executive Director of the Washington Winegrowers Association in a statement. "By understanding basic, fundamental plant processes, people here today are creating the foundation for the agriculture of tomorrow."

The building is the fourth to be completed within the master plan for the Research and Education Complex (REC) at WSU, which was originally developed by LMN Architects back in 2005.

"The new Plant Sciences Building marks a significant milestone in Washington State’s commitment t...

SOM team reimagines the portable classroom building

2020-09-28T15:53:00-04:00

School/House was designed in response to COVID-19 as schools across the globe are struggling to meet the spatial demands of social distancing. According to the School/House website, SOM's architects and engineers worked closely together to create an alternative to existing modular classrooms on the market that schools will want to keep. The minimalistic characteristics of the modules give them a light and airy feel, much different from their bulky, more heavy counterparts. This, the SOM team believes, contributes to a more desirable and inspirational learning experience.

School/House is rapidly deployable, providing a space with ceilings, ample daylight, views to the outside, enhanced airflow systems, and easily sanitized finishes. One School.House module consists of 7 foldable, flat-packed panels, for quick assembly. And unlike traiditional modular classrooms, School/Houses can be deployed and assembles on roofs and terraces of urban schools.

Each module comes in and 36 feet x 42 f...

ZAS Architects unveils design for new undulating learning oasis in Toronto

2020-08-14T11:48:00-04:00

ZAS Architects, in collaboration with Denmark-based CEBRA Architecture, has unveiled the design for a new student-centered learning and support hub at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC). The new facility is a "learning landscape" that encourages flexible education through an authentically complex arrangement of rooms and public space.

"We envisioned a truly flexible environment that broke down traditional pedagogies and instead, encouraged a fluid learning experience unconfined by the walls of the classroom," said Paul Stevens, Founder, and Senior Principal at ZAS Architects in a statement. "Peer-to-peer learning is emulated in all aspects of the design."

The design embraces an expansive use of multiple levels, with clear vertical views throughout the building, allowing users an interconnected sense of fluidity. The program consists of 21 classrooms of various sizes and configurations ranging from a 500-seat auditorium to more intimate 24-seat learning environments...

Grimshaw unveils design for new Santa Monica College arts complex

2020-06-05T12:27:00-04:00

Grimshaw, in collaboration with Little Diversified Architectural Consulting as architect of record has unveiled the initial designs of the new 21,000-square-foot arts complex for Santa Monica College (SMC) in Southern California. The building will replace an existing car park and serve as the western "gateway" for the school.

Grimshaw worked closely with SMC arts faculty to create an open program that encourages cross-disciplinary discovery and engagement. "Working alongside the arts faculty of SMC to design a building that bolsters their visionary take on the importance of the arts in an evolving entrepreneurial landscape has been inspiring and energizing," said Andrew Byrne, a Managing Partner at the Grimshaw LA studio in a statement. "We are excited to work with such a supportive college to create this landmark building for the community."

The design is composed of three distinctive volumes that are linked by overhead exterior shaded spaces. The external circulation of the comple...

Yazdani Studio's Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine in Pasadena set for July 2020 completion

2020-05-08T12:18:00-04:00

The new Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine building in Pasadena, California is nearing completion.

Back in February of last year, the medical giant released renderings and a virtual tour of the new structure, which was designed by Yazdani Studio. The four-story building is due to be completed in July of this year and, according to UrbanizaLA, is expected to start with an initial class of 48 students, eventually enrolling up to 192 students by 2022.

Urban Projects Bureau supports STEAM education with newly completed school building

2020-04-06T19:17:00-04:00

The Urban Projects Bureau (UPB) has recently completed its second building at Graveney School in Tooting, London. The Observatory Block came from a long-term collaboration between the school and UPB. The UPB team recieved funding for a new 8-classroom teaching block in 2017, which after additional crowd-funding, later became the 10-classroom Observatory Block enjoyed by the school today.

The new building supports the school's STEAM program and encourages and facilitates learning surrounding space, time, and the universe. As such, the architecture's design guides users' gaze toward the sky. External walkways, terraces, and teaching spaces are held at each of the structure's three levels and habitable roof terraces allow for star-watching and other activities.

A cylindrical staircase leads building-goers from the lower level up to the roof. On the elevated journey upward, a chandelier hangs in the center of the spiral stair. Students can program the chandelier to represent various con...

10 academic architecture projects in Boston we liked this month by architects based in Boston

2020-03-24T18:53:00-04:00

Hardly any other American city is as closely associated with higher education as Boston, with some of its universities making frequent appearances in Archinect's academia-related news coverage.

As part of our month-long editorial Spotlight on Boston, why not take a look at ten standout architecture projects for institutions of higher learning and K12 schools in the greater Boston area? All selections were picked from projects uploaded to Firm profiles of practices based in the city.

Searching for architectural jobs in the region? Check out these firms that are currently hiring in the city and catch up also with our latest curated job picks specifically for Boston.

If you missed our recent regional project roundups, head over to Miami, Austin, Los Angeles, and, most recently, residential projects in Boston.

↑ New England Conservatory Student Life and Performance Center in Boston by Ann Beha Architects (Design Architect) with Gensler (Associate Architect); Photo: Peter Vanderwarker

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New high school incorporates design elements meant to hinder active shooters

2019-08-23T15:30:00-04:00

With school shootings becoming a point of concern for many across the country, K-12 design methodologies are beginning to address the issue as well.

Fruitport High School in Fruitport, Michigan, for example, is undergoing a $48 million renovation project aimed at incorporating some of these design approaches. The new work "will add curved hallways to reduce a gunman’s range, jutting barriers to provide cover and egress, and meticulously spaced classrooms that can lock on demand and hide students in the corner, out of a killer’s sight," reports The Washington Post.

Speaking with The Washington Post, Matt Sagle of TowerPinkster, and an architect on the project, illustrated the project's "shadow zones," designed areas for students to hide in that are obstructed from a shooter's sight lines. TowerPinkster also designs prisons; Regarding the project, The Washington Post writes that Sagle "wanted to strike a balance between security and creating a welcoming presence without the pendulum ...