The new home for the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation offers an unparalleled opportunity to offer a legacy building to academy graduates for years to come. The building is situated on College Creek, overlooking downtown Annapolis and acting as an entryway to the historic Naval Academy campus across the water. The design serves numerous purposes while upholding the academy’s history, tradition, memories, and evolution. The new waterfront venue takes the place of a collection of three inadequately small historic buildings that could no longer support the needs of the association and foundation. The new building is now five times the size of those buildings combined and can easily accommodate workspace for the Alumni Association and its fundraising Foundation. It also features multiple indoor and outdoor settings for alumni events, including lectures, banquets, weddings, tailgates, remote-working areas, and a comfortable bar for social gatherings.
To actualize this vision, the Naval Academy turned to Perkins Eastman to uncover the measurable statistics of a new center through our strategic-placing and due-diligence process. This preliminary work revealed the guiding principles of functionality and tradition that were important to the Alumni Association and Foundation. Using our interdisciplinary expertise in campus planning, workplace, and hospitality, the design team aimed to highlight the Naval Academy alumni heritage by working together with donors and board members who are responsible for the capital campaign that raised money for the construction of the building.
The design seeks to create a center that will not only enhance the many activities and functions within, but also serves the needs of an active alumni workforce and community while celebrating and paying tribute to those who served and sacrificed for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.