Mixing in glass and brick, the building fits into the school’s master plan for slashing its carbon footprint.
Designed by TenBerke, the student facility, overlooking the school’s Paradise Pond and officially known as the Kathleen McCartney Hall, measures approximately 15,000 square feet and can house job fairs, networking workshops, lectures, and other programming. Two school centers —the Lazarus Center for Career Development and the Wurtele Center for Collaborative Leadership—are “under a shared roof,” TenBerke said in a statement.
According to the Architects Newspaper, which wrote about the new facility, “The building is composed of two distinct volumes. The volume that faces the street is slightly shorter than the volume to the rear, in order to provide visual harmony with the surrounding architecture.”
“Every material, every crafted detail in the building is meant to invite students to explore and linger,” said Arthi Krishnamoorthy, TenBerke senior principal. “The warmth of the wood, the play of light on the brick, and the carefully considered spaces create a sense of quiet comfort that encourages curiosity, reflection and discovery,” Krishnamoorthy continued.
Corners of the building have sinuous curves. Large expanses of glass provide optimal views of Paradise Pond, and Northampton more broadly. A frit composed of thin vertical lines protects birds, without compromising views of the landscape. Vertical fins on the facade regulate daylight.
Mass timber makes up much of the interior spaces with framing left exposed. Hand railings within the building are sculptured, the report said, “underscoring the building’s commitment to craft, down to the smallest details.”
It’s reported that a 30 percent reduction in embodied carbon is achieved through the use of the mass timber structural system, concrete volume reduction and low-carbon insulation, as well as a 32 percent reduction in water use compared to a LEED baseline.
Want more? Join us in Atlanta this August for IWF’s all-new Mass Timber and Prefab Showcase. See who is exhibiting here.
Architecture photographed by Chris Cooper, ArchExplorer
