New Haven, CT Two of Svigals + Partners’ projects have won awards from the Connecticut Building Congress (CBC) for project team partnership and collaboration. The 2018 awards include two projects for which Svigals + Ptrs. served as architect: A first place citation in the K-12 Schools category for the Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS), and a merit award in the new construction category for the Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut.

The first-place award received by Svigals + Ptrs. was for their work on the new Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS), a school for grades 6-12 that has been called “an innovative makerspace campus.” The building is located on the University of New Haven’s campus in West Haven. They teamed up with Gilbane Building Co. as the construction manager partner, and with the client group that included the University of New Haven and the New Haven Board of Education. 

The design of the 116,000 s/f school building supports project-based and hands-on learning models for STEM education. Many of the ESUMS workshops, classrooms and lab rooms are enclosed with operable glass partitions, creating bright and inspiring learning spaces that can be opened up to adjacent hallways for larger informal gatherings and team-based work.

The winner of the merit honors in the new construction category, the Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut, provides a “home away from home” for the families of children receiving treatment at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital. The nonprofit client and owner, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts, led a project team including, construction management firm Petra Construction Corp. The result is the 28,000 s/f residence with shared areas for family interaction. With its colorful, sculptural façades that add a welcoming and friendly visage to the new building, Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut offers an example of Svigals + Partners ongoing aspiration to build “prosperous, compassionate communities.”

“Through the collaborative engagement among Petra Construction, Ronald McDonald House Charities and a team of talented contractors and consultants, this welcoming temporary home for families of young patients offers essential support as well as privacy,” said architect Ron Cooper, AIA, NCARB, associate principal of Svigals + Partners. “Our design-and-construction team delivered innovative communal gathering areas and a central living room on each residential floor, as well as lively artwork integrated into the exterior reflecting the mission and vision of our nonprofit client.”

The dual CBC honors, which was presented at the organization’s 2018 Project Team Awards Banquet on June 12, annually recognize “outstanding collaborative efforts” of the project teams, including the owner group, designers, construction firms and other participants.

“This really was an outstanding collaborative effort on behalf of the team partners, project owners and leaders and our design team,” said Jay Brotman, AIA, managing principal of Svigals.

“This unique collaboration with the university and the school board has resulted in a state-of-the-art learning environment, that affords greater access to educational resources for the more than 600 students it serves,” said Julia McFadden, AIA, associate principal with Svigals + Ptrs. “Our team worked closely with multiple stakeholder groups to achieve ambitious results – a construction project emblematic of the New Haven Board of Education’s commitment to the community and to superior education,” McFadden said.