A new three-story academic building is being added to the Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vermont.
The 25,000-sf expansion, designed by KaTO and ZGF Architects, will comprise interdisciplinary classrooms and the school’s library on BBA’s upper campus. The building is organized around a central commons that will house the school’s library, which has been reimagined as a lively environment that encourages activity and interaction. Spaces for individual work and study will also be included.
The library will be built from CLT and glulam and reflect the surrounding mountainous landscape. Mass timber was selected to help support student health and success as a growing body of research suggests it has psychological health and well-being benefits such as reduced stress and lower blood pressure.
The building will be divided into four distinct learning neighborhoods that support different levels of flexibility and types of activity. A STEAM neighborhood will co-locate a student maker shop with specialty equipment, a computer laboratory, and a learning space. These spaces will be connected by operable garage doors that can be opened to form a greater Maker Commons.
Designed to be net-zero ready, the new facility will include electric-run HVAC sysxtems, an air-to-water heat pump, and the timber structure for the building commons. The expansion will welcome its first students in fall 2021.
Related Stories
| Jul 22, 2013
Top University Sector Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Cannon, Perkins+Will, Stantec top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest university sector architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, DPR, Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
URS, STV, Wiss Janney Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HOK, HDR top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Renovation, adaptive reuse stay strong, providing fertile ground for growth [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Increasingly, owners recognize that existing buildings represent a considerable resource in embodied energy, which can often be leveraged for lower front-end costs and a faster turnaround than new construction.
| Jul 19, 2013
Best in brick: 7 stunning building façades made with brick [slideshow]
The Brick Industry Association named the winners of its 2013 Brick in Architecture Awards. Here are seven winning projects that caught our eye.
| Jul 11, 2013
Bill to borrow more for college spending in Michigan criticized due to ‘higher-ed bubble’
An amendment to a Michigan appropriations budget authorizes an increase in state debt to pay for state university construction projects. But some experts see a “higher education bubble” on the horizon, and said more taxpayer debt for more buildings is a bad idea.
| Jul 2, 2013
LEED v4 gets green light, will launch this fall
The U.S. Green Building Council membership has voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the world’s premier green building rating system.
| Jul 1, 2013
Report: Global construction market to reach $15 trillion by 2025
A new report released today forecasts the volume of construction output will grow by more than 70% to $15 trillion worldwide by 2025.
| Jun 28, 2013
Building owners cite BIM/VDC as 'most exciting trend' in facilities management, says Mortenson report
A recent survey of more than 60 building owners and facility management professionals by Mortenson Construction shows that BIM/VDC is top of mind among owner professionals.
