|
William H. Hall High School
West Hartford, Conn.
Herbert S. Newman and Partners
Windows Brighten the Mood in this Update
of a Brutalist High School
By Elizabeth Harrison Kubany
© Woodruff/Brown Photography |
For more photos click on 'photos
& drawings' above.
To see the people and products
behind this project click on 'people & products.'
|
When West Hartford, Conn.’s Department
of Community Services hired Herbert S. Newman and Partners
to renovate Hall High, it asked the architects to change the
dark and brooding building into a different kind of place.
With enrollment projected to grow from 1,200 to 1,500 students
and changes in curriculum planned, the existing 250,000-square-foot
building needed to expand as well.
The architects located the project’s
20,000-square-foot, three-story addition on the northeastern
corner of the existing building, where it would front the
main access road to the school. Although not at the school’s
main entrance, the addition has a high public profile. With
its curved form and looming stair tower, the addition acts
as a foil to the horizontal mass of the old building. In contrast
to the almost windowless existing building, glazing is generous
on the addition’s northern elevation and, to a lesser
extent, on its eastern facade. The architects designed the
bright, airy spaces here as art studios, general classrooms,
and science laboratories.
See the February 2001 issue of Architectural
Record for full coverage of this project.
Formal name
of building:
William H. Hall High School addition and renovation
Location:
West Hartford, Conn.
Gross square
footage:
20,000 square feet (new); 250,000 square feet (renovated);
1,500 students
Owner:
Department of Community Services, Town of West Hartford
Architect's
firm:
Herbert S. Newman and Partners
300 York Street
New Haven, CT 06511
phone: 203.772.1990
fax: 203.772.1997
www.hsnparch.com
|
Video
