School of the Holy Child
Rye, N.Y.
Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects

New "heart" keeps school's symbolic core alive

© Albert Vecerka/Esto

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This project comprises a 20,000-square-foot addition to the School of the Holy Child, an all-girls Catholic middle and high school. It includes a new entry, library, classrooms, administrative offices, and meeting spaces. Although a previous master plan proposed locating the addition in an under-utilized garden courtyard, Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects instead suggested constructing it on top of the existing high school building, built in the mid 20th century. This arrangement preserved the campus landscape and permits unobstructed views to a 1920s-era mansion, which embodies the school's identity. The addition has since become the school's new heart.

The architects designed a series of spaces that reinforce the ways in which students can congregate and interact. For instance, the scale of spaces varies from intimate window seating, to larger sun-filled reading rooms in which groups of tables allow for flexible study forums. Incidental spaces located outside the new classrooms are celebrated as instrumental in the day-to-day experience, providing additional opportunities for interaction and learning.

Murphy Burnham & Buttrick employed a modern architectural language that integrates natural materials such as stone, wood, and copper. The palette results in an openness and lightness that speaks in contrast to the 1920s mansion, with its Tudor style gabled roof, heavy masonry, and stucco. The library's exterior cladding, which consists of natural slate shingles applied to the vertical surfaces, provides a textured look that creates a dialog with the mansion's slate roof, unifying the courtyard. At the ground floor entry, glass walls allow unobstructed views through the lobby to the courtyard beyond and enliven interior spaces with color, light, and nature. Throughout the upper floors, punched openings offer framed views of the surrounding landscape, including an unexpected glimpse of the Long Island Sound.

The new building allows the mansion to remain the School's symbolic core and encourages students to contemplate their own place in its history. At the same time, it establishes a new image that the architects believe hints at the future and at the serious endeavor of preparing young women for entry into the finest colleges and universities.

Formal name of Project:
School of the Holy Child

Location:
Rye, N.Y.

Gross square footage:
20,000 sq. ft.

Owner:
School of the Holy Child

Architect:
Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects
48 West 37th Street
New York, NY 10018
212-768-7676 tel.
212-840-9871 fax
www.mbbarch.com

From left to right: Harold Buttrick, FAIA, Jeffrey A. Murphy, AIA, Mary Burnham, AIA