Innovative Design, Traditional Palette Serve 'Modern Yet Middlebury' Tastes

Author: Emily Thaler

"Modern, yet Middlebury" is an apt way to describe the architectural style of the new buildings going up around campus.
The structures, which must be both functional and aesthetically pleasing, feature innovative design combined with traditional College building materials.
Each building, from the Atwater Commons expansion dormitories to the Ross Dining Hall, has been designed to fit in with the rest of campus, either by echoing the shapes of existing buildings or by blending into the landscape through use of the classic granites and marbles particular to the College.
The two Atwater residence halls, which will be built behind Le Château, are meant to recall Painter Hall and the other buildings of Old Stone Row (Old Chapel and Starr Hall).
The façade of the new buildings will be "split-face" stone, a rougher stone than that used on Bicentennial or LaForce halls, but similar to that seen on Painter.
When Painter was built in 1815, a slightly rougher and less expensive stone was used on the back and sides than on the front in an effort to reduce construction costs.
This feature of Painter has been included in the design of the Atwater residences to visually link them to Old Stone Row. The front of the Atwater buildings, which will open up onto a green, will be made of a finished stone like that which appears on the front of Old Chapel.
The design of the new Atwater dormitories will also feature the same parapet and recessed windows of Painter, as well as the rectangular red brick chimneys found on both Painter and Starr Halls.
The chimneys, however, will not be used in the traditional way, but will instead serve as part of the buildings' natural ventilation systems. Fans set up in the attics of each of the new buildings will create internal breezes and draw air up through the chimneys.
Both residence halls, which will serve as senior housing, will have several town houses and what Treasurer Emeritus and Executive Vice President of Facilities Planning David Ginevan calls "vertical access."
Rather than having suites open up on to a main hall, the Atwater structures will have multiple outside entrances providing access to an upper and a lower apartment. The stacked design will provide each unit with windows on both sides of the building and allow for cross-ventilation.
This highlight, combined with the attic fans, will allow the buildings to be cooled naturally and eliminate the need for air conditioning.
Inspiration for the design of the new Atwater Dining Hall did not come from other buildings on campus, but from the landscape itself.
The building, which will be located to the north of the Johnson parking lot, was designed to be less obtrusive than other buildings on campus.
The flying saucer-shaped structure, which will feature views to the southeast of town, will have sloped and vegetated "green roof" to help it blend in with its surroundings when viewed from above. It is being built into a hillside and will consist of only one floor, further linking it to the landscape.
The new library and technology center, also curvy in design, will round out the east end of the campus.
Its location below Old Stone Row will make it one of the most prominent buildings seen as one approaches the campus from town, and it will essentially serve as a link between the College and the local community.
"There's a curve in the library as you approach campus, so the building is always falling away from you," noted Ginevan. He explained that although the design will be more modern, the classic granite and marble will appear very familiar. "You'll be able to see the balance and contrast between Old Stone Row and the new library."
Both the Atwater Commons expansion, designed by KieranTimberlake Associates, and the new library, designed by Gwathmey Siegel Associates, are slated to open in the fall of 2004.
The projects are projected to cost $35 and $40 million, respectively. The primary structure of the buildings will be completed by the end of this school year.
LaForce Hall, part of the recently completed Ross Commons project, designed by Tai Soo Kim Partners and costing $19.5-$20 million, echoes Old Chapel in its design. Old Chapel's proportions and overall structure can be identified when the building is seen from the east.
The placement of the windows and the shape of the roof are important elements in visually linking the two buildings. Aluminum framed windows of the Ross buildings are colored to fit in with the granite façade and metal roofing.
The locally mined granite of the new buildings correspondes with others around campus and the state of Vermont. Granite is part of what Ginevan refers to as the "Middlebury palette" of materials found locally and seen in many older buildings on campus.
The curved roof of Ross Hall, which houses the dining facility, is a significant innovation.
When viewed from Route 125 West, however, the shape of the roof is not distinguishable and the building appears consistent in style and aligned with Hadley, Kelly and Lang halls.
Ross's elongated design and large windows offer sweeping western views of the Adirondack mountains on the New York side of Lake Champlain, yet another example of the College's careful efforts to balance modern expansion with pastoral surroundings.
Deborah Jones also contributed to this article.