Arts Center Addition, The Pingry School
This Arts Center addition to the Martinsville's campus of The Pingry School supports a significant transformation and improvement to the arts curriculum of the School. The new addition takes its design cues from the original Hardy, Holtzman, Pfiefer building to which it is appended. The façade comprises alternating masonry piers and copper-clad bays, each slightly more transparent. An outdoor courtyard at the side elevation doubles as a sculpture court.
The building's interior houses a 230-seat student theatre with stage, control booth, and catwalk system. Stage rigging and catwalks were designed to safely allow students to take part in the technical set-up and operation of productions as part of a comprehensive educational program. Supporting the theater are dressing rooms and a shop where scenery can be built and stored. The theater is placed at the heart of the addition, with access from a new lobby that provides a significant alternate access to the main building.
Three new art studios occupy the north-facing upper level of the new addition, each featuring a roof monitor with motorized shades for maximum adjustment of natural lighting. Each studio is designed with custom storage cabinetry that is woven into the architecture of the exterior and demising walls. An art gallery on the same level is designed for maximum flexibility, and accommodates both student and traveling professional installations. Careful control of natural lighting is achieved through the placement of permanent light-shielding walls that mask a hidden access to an outdoor balcony that facilitates the secondary use of the space for school receptions. A sculpture studio faces the sculpture court at the ground level, and features clay wheels, kiln room, and storage. Additional natural gas piping is installed in the sculpture court to facilitate outdoor kiln firings.
A professional-quality dance studio faces the sculpture court on the upper level, and is outfitted with floor-to-ceiling mirrors, ballet barre, and sound system. The studio accommodates small dance recitals in addition to daily dance classes. Windows on the west wall offer a spectacular view of the wooded campus and provide a dynamic visual connection to the sculpture court below.
Rounding out the program are a large orchestra rehearsal room, a smaller jazz band rehearsal room, large and small choral rehearsal rooms, a midi room, and individual practice rooms. All music spaces were acoustically separated from each other and the rest of the program spaces, particularly the theater, which is located directly above the orchestra and jazz band rehearsal rooms.
Michael Schnoering, AIA, served as Project Manager for the design of the Arts Center Addition for Ford Farewell Mills & Gatsch Architects, LLC.