Capturing Landscape: Set between mountain range and
coastal valley, the hillside campus of this 115 year-old boarding school is a
24 / 7 academic community of 235 students, 40 faculty, and 140 horses. Demanding
studies combine with rugged outdoor life on ranch-like grounds expressive of
school philosophy. Insertion of the Arts Building and Commons
into its historic core
prompted our evaluation both of the existing campus layout and the
extraordinary power of the surrounding terrain - a quality often un -recognized
in earlier buildings - and offered a chance to show how to take better
advantage of this remarkable landscape.

Exploiting Building / Site
Relationships: One goal was to demonstrate the new buildings’ ability to
maximize usefulness of adjoining outdoor spaces and to enhance the campus
experience. American
campus tradition treats outdoor spaces as functional / symbolic components of
an ideal landscape and a source of institutional identity, but how does this
work in mountainous terrain? On this site the semi-arid ecology and looming
mountain peaks bring to mind the Greek landscape and with it, ancient planning
strategies aimed at establishing clear relationships between sacred buildings
and prominent topographic features to heighten awareness of the natural world
and people’s place in it. The setting of the running track at this school looks
a lot like the one at Delphi.

Double-functioning space:Two building programs are treated as one to enhance efficiency and avoid
redundant spaces.
In
addition to relaxed spaces for student, faculty, alumni, and conference use,
the Commonsprovides lobby / reception
/ rest room facilities for events in either building. Lower level music
practice rooms are adjacent to the stage and rehearsal rooms of the Arts Building.
Circulation is concentrated in a sky-lit central corridor (“socio-petal space”)
interpreted like a Parisian shopping arcade with café, post office, school
store. It doubles as a gallery for student work or traveling exhibitions. A
tack- board kiosk, (“The Toad”) provides pinup information, internet access,
and soft drinks. The adjacent multi-purpose room expands the café for events.

A Curricular Shift:As a multi-use performing arts center, the Arts Building,
promotes increased student participation in arts programs. The 450-seat auditorium
has mid-range acoustics for music, speech, drama, dance, and cinema. Its
asymmetrical entry, cross aisle, and separate lighting patterns allow the lower
portion of the house (300 seats) to be used for daily assembly with the
intimacy of a smaller room. Overhead doors at the rear of the house open for
natural ventilation and horseback seating. Interiors are intentionally plain. Exposed
structure, ladders, catwalks, and lighting balconies recall the school’s
long-gone Rough House which
combined gymnasium calisthenics and scary equipment in a kind of male
adolescent exhaustion machine.

Clarifying and Capturing: The buildings
resolve a conflicted part of the campus plan and shape a space that
accommodates intermission crowds, casual student use, and ceremonial functions
and above, cuts a new view corridor to the west. The Arts Building borders a
venerated triangular playing field then cranks to align with the north/south
grid of the central campus and form a strong corner for the open lawn to the
north. The Commonsanchors the new project to
the old Pergolaat the center of the
school. Its cantilevered deck and window wall afford a sweeping overlook of the
valley. Building alignments and tall windows in the auditorium, rehearsal
rooms, and cafe make distant mountain views the focus of major spaces.

Sustainability and Regional
Vernacular:Vernacular building forms and materials enclose a
technically complex program, responding to climate and natural features in a
way that unifies the larger landscape. Contemporary spatial concepts, detailing, construction, and planting and
lighting design are overlaid. Orientation, daylight penetration, roof overhangs
and sun screens, grading and foundation design, natural ventilation / HVAC
systems, and materials selections all reflect a balance between limiting
construction cost and maximizing life-cycle performance. Stucco, architectural
concrete, metal siding and roofing predominate. Client-requested wood siding is
used sparingly.

Photography: Benny Chan, Fotoworks