Design Progresses on $22M Dorm Project A FIRST LOOK AT CHOATE’S NEW DORMS
By Zoe Gorman ‘09
News Staff Reporter
As preparations continue for two new dormitories, architectural and design elements are becoming clearer, though the final designs are yet to be completed.According to Mr. John Burditt, Vice President of Administration and Finance, the new dorms are expected to house 80 students and eight faculty members and will stand off of North Elm Street, in between Curtis Avenue and the baseball field. The two elegantly jagged shaped dorms, together about 65,000 square feet, will be mirror images of each other connected by a large archway. These dorms should help eliminate the usage of some of the small houses as student living spaces.The late Rebecca Tenney Agnew ’27, a major donor to the project, made a few requests on the style of the dorm before she passed away, wishing the new dorms to be modeled after her dorm at Smith College, her alma mater. Centerbrook Architects, who have been hired to design the project, have achieved in their design her aim to hide the dorm’s size as well of its parking lots.Mr. Burditt commented further of Ms. Agnew’s wishes. “We have porticos, we have columns. We have a lot of the detailing that’s similar to Dewey House, [Ms. Tenney Agnew’s college dorm,] and obviously it’s a different building. Dewey House is a much smaller structure and has a different purpose, but we have incorporated many elements of Dewey Hall into the design and we have representatives of family that are also looking at these designs and they’re feeling very good about our meeting her [Rebecca Tenney Agnew’s] wishes. These buildings are [also] brick.” Mr. Burditt also added that the columns and gables of the new dorms will be made of wood “in order to make it look much more like [Dewey House].” Furthermore, though Dewey House has one façade of columns, the new dorms will have up to eight similar-looking façades to replicate the Smith College building.Some other features of the dorms will be bicycle storage and laundry rooms in the basements, central entrances, and hallways broken up by common rooms. Studies will be located at the point of intersection between faculty apartments and dorms. Going Green One of the most exciting aspects of the new dorms will be the energy-conserving “green” elements.“The best green feature that we have on this project I think is we’re going with a Geo-thermal heat system. What that does is it uses the ground for heating and cooling. We’ll have heat pumps in the building, which take the water which is circulated through a closed-loop system and uses that for heating and cooling within the building,” said Mr. Burditt.“[Centerbrook has] actually welded pumps 450 feet into the ground [before]. The ground temperature 50 feet below is 52 degrees year-round, so it allows you to use the heat in the winter and the cool in the summer. We can supplement that, but the bulk of the load is basically being taken by using the ground,” explained Mr. Joe Crouse, the Project Manager.Other green features of the new dorms will include motors, lighting with motion sensors, and pumps all of which are high-efficiency.Money Saving FeaturesAlthough the cost of the $22 million dormitory project was contributed to by these added elements, through meticulous calculations, Mr. Burditt believes that the amount Choate will save on energy over time will justify these initial costs. “It’s not just because it’s green but it makes good economic sense. The green aspect is also important to us. With problems of global warming and other issues that are out there, potential energy shortages and so forth, it’s also the right thing to do.”Solar power was one energy-saving feature the school was not ready to make an investment on until the technology improves.Construction is, at the moment, scheduled to start next September if the fundraising for the project goes well. Right now, about $7 million has been raised, including Ms. Agnew’s $6 million bequest.Although the foundational architecture and proportions looked very cleverly designed, the details have not yet been worked out. The paint colors might be red and white or off-white.“Those final selections will come as the design progresses. Actually it’s one of the last things that you look at. You want to make sure that you get your massing and your form right first for the site. After you start to develop those and you get those where you want, then you start to look at some of the finer details of color selections and exact material selections to meet that architecture,” commented Mr. Joe Crouse.The elevation of the site will be consistent with the roof line, as both drop to the east. The front portion will be 1 1⁄2 stories tall and the back will rise to a full 3 stories with the faculty apartments at the top.
