Dwight Elementary School
New Haven
Michael Haverland Architect/Yale Urban Design Workshop

A multipurpose addition enhances a neighborhood school

© Andrew Bordwin

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

By William Weathersby, Jr.

An eight-year-old organization that grew out of a design studio, the Yale Urban Design Workshop brings together faculty and students from the School of Architecture and Yale’s other professional schools to provide planning and design services for communities in Connecticut. Although the forum does not typically engage in construction projects, in this case federal, state, and local grants allowed this leap forward.

The project was launched as a three-day community design charrette in 1995. With more than 300 participants including the mayor, civic officials, and local residents, the sessions targeted expansion of the school on Edgewood Avenue. Designed by Eliot Noyes in 1963, the single-story, 38,000-square-foot school is situated within a low-income neighborhood and lacked an indoor recreation space or assembly hall. Its classrooms have no windows. A program was developed for a multipurpose room to accommodate its 500 students while also serving as a community meeting place. A $2.4 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development was awarded to Yale to develop the plan. Remaining funds were allocated by the State of Connecticut and the New Haven Board of Education.

With maintenance and security as priorities, client mandates developed through the charrette included no flat roofs, no porches where the homeless could gather at night, the use of durable, vandal-resistant materials, and more natural light.
Rising at the west end of the school, the L-shaped addition creates a new, prominent entry axis.

A supergraphic billboard announces the school’s presence to the neighborhood. The short leg of the building’s footprint runs perpendicular to two wings of the school to frame three outdoor spaces that pinwheel around it: a small playground, a formal entrance garden, and a flexible courtyard. A double-height, elliptical lobby serves as a pivot point between a classroom wing, the multipurpose room, and two office/meeting rooms earmarked for community organizations.
The 57-by-90-foot multipurpose room functions as a gymnasium and auditorium. Roll-out basketball goals, a folding stage platform, and stacking chairs can
all be stored, and the room opens onto both the public courtyard and playing field.

See the February 2002 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of Project:
Timothy Dwight Elementary School Addition

Location:
New Haven

Gross square footage:
9,300 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$2.7 million

Owner:
City of New Haven, New Haven Board of Education
54 Meadow Street
New Haven, CT 06511
www.cityofnewhaven.com

Architect:
Michael Haverland Architect/Yale Urban Design Workshop
60 East 9th Street, Suite 612
New York, NY 10003
Tel: 212-780-9188
Fax: 212-780-9357
www.michaelhaverland.com

Alt:
Box 208242
New Haven, CT 06520
203-432-4029