Archinect - News 2024-09-16T15:03:17-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150438485/vassar-s-religious-community-finds-a-new-home-in-adaptive-reuse-design-from-l-e-ft-architects Vassar's religious community finds a new home in adaptive reuse design from L.E.FT Architects Josh Niland 2024-07-23T17:48:00-04:00 >2024-07-24T15:39:13-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/96/96262e577f318adfd020f9d7a838f360.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p><strong></strong>School is out of session for the summer, but <a href="https://archinect.com/schools/cover/30150352/vassar-college" target="_blank">Vassar College</a>&rsquo;s new Center for the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and Contemplative Practices is on our minds after a recently completed project from <a href="https://archinect.com/firms/cover/3588/l-e-ft" target="_blank">L.E.FT Architects</a> restored the existing Pratt House into a campus hub for student&rsquo;s wellness and intellectual growth.</p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/95/95f7853ceafc9dab571179d083c29953.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/95/95f7853ceafc9dab571179d083c29953.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Photo by Michael Vahrenwald/ESTO</figcaption></figure><p>Their <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/10647/adaptive-reuse" target="_blank">adaptive reuse</a> of the 109-year-old building turned its three-story Gothic Revival structure into a home for the office and their mission to serve twelve religious and spiritual student groups at Vassar. In what was originally the college warden&rsquo;s residence, a new kind of space has evolved. In it, the architects say, the restrictive &ldquo;dichotomies&rdquo; dividing religious and secular life in America are dissolved into a communal space imbued with tolerance and the desire to enact change.<br></p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/63/631f74c9981ff10e60043055895fdb2c.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/63/631f74c9981ff10e60043055895fdb2c.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Photo courtesy L.E.FT Architects</figcaption></figure><p>&ldquo;The conversations that resulted between the diverse and sometimes theologically-opposed participants were dynamic yet r...</p>