A dedication ceremony for the opening of the new William Brown Boathouse, located along the Merrimack River, and designed by ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge for Phillips Academy in was held on Sept. 23.
Designed by ARC, built by Windover Construction, and project managed by Galanis Consulting, the 16,755 s/f, single-story William Brown Boathouse serves as the new home to the Phillips Academy crew. The facility contains six boat bays for housing up to 30 racing shells, a boat-repair bay, athletic support spaces including team changing and locker rooms, offices for coaches and meeting spaces. The building also houses a great room, public restrooms, pantry, caretaker's apartment unit and new mechanical support areas.
The new Brown Boathouse was created by renovating an existing, prefabricated metal building dating from the 1970s.
The building was transformed to its new use with a handful of selected upgrades to the existing structure, including new metal panel siding and new oversized glass openings.
The double-height great room will form the hub of activity on race-day events, with new glazed openings along its northern and eastern sides providing spectators with the opportunity to watch the races from indoors.
New boat launch areas and docks were added at the northeastern corner of the site and will also function as impromptu outdoor team meeting and gathering areas for the Phillips Academy boys' and girls' crew teams.
The dedication ceremony was attended by Philip Laird, AIA, LEED AP, who is president of ARC and served as principal-in-charge of the project. The September opening of the facility is in time for the start of the fall crew season at Phillips Academy.