ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge has completed the second phase of the 70,000 s/f new Upper School academic building and the 420-seat, 21,000 s/f theater for Greenwich Country Day School.
The theater and Upper School buildings are part of a larger master planning project which included revisions to vehicular circulation and parking on campus as well as extensive landscape/site work, the addition of two new regulation-size playing fields and bio-retention areas.
The new Upper School, whose first phase was completed last fall, was built on the site of the existing Upper School and houses 18 classrooms, administrative offices, a conference room, science and computer labs, a greenhouse and art studios. Student support spaces include a study center, a library, student lounges, meeting spaces as well as an outdoor amphitheater.
Headmaster Adam Rohdie said, "In designing Country Day's new Upper School and Performing Arts Center, ARC has achieved the highest goal of educational architecture: to enhance learning. When you see the new Upper School in action—students working together in a breakout space, using the greenhouse for a science experiment, or solving a tough problem in the math lab—you see how the design of a building can make new moments of learning possible."
Located between the newly-built Upper School and the dining hall, is the new theater which acts as the 'town meeting hall' for the campus. With 420-seats and related support spaces, the building provides a larger stage with greater performance flexibility than their existing facilities. A band room, an electronic music room and four instrument practice rooms on the lower level support the school's music curriculum and are easily accessible to the theater and the Upper School.
"We're very pleased to have successfully completed both phases of this project at the Greenwich Country Day School," said Philip Laird, AIA, president of ARC and principal-in-charge of the project. "Both the new theater and the new academic facility will not only enrich the learning experiences of students, but will also provide them with an exceptional environment for personal growth and development."