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Nicholas Athletic Center
Cambridge, Mass.
Chan Krieger & Associates
A building evokes the disciplined creativity
of dedicated athletes
© Anton Grassl |
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This new 80,000 square foot athletic
center at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School departed
from the red masonry, neo-Georgian aesthetic of the campus
for a palette of common and readily available materials including
concrete masonry, glazed brick, glass block, metal panels,
and prefabricated long-span trusses. The result is a building
of contemporary beauty that was economical to build.
The cubic volume of the gym with its
glazed east/northeast wall is given a prominent location at
the terminus of a prominent parkway overlooking the Charles
River. The large shed of the hockey/tennis field house is
placed to the rear of the site, facing the playing fields
and ‘screened' by a two-story wing containing classrooms,
departmental offices, and training facilities. The siting
of the two buildings allows for the preservation and maximum
use of the existing playing fields.
Between these two dominant volumes is
a linear assembly of social spaces affectionately dubbed "the
wedge." One of the school's mandates was to produce a
plan that would diminish the common school barriers among
academic, athletic, and the arts. The wedge becomes a casual
meeting ground for students of all types and houses the cafeteria,
lounge, display gallery, and serves as the principal pathway
connecting the academic cluster to a future arts wing.
The wedge also produces a barn-like
stacking of entrances. The lower entrance allows students
to access the locker rooms and team rooms, or the hockey/tennis
field house. An upper entrance—the front door to the
center—enables students, visitors, and spectators to
arrive at the gym level, directly at the social center of
the facility and overlooking the playing fields. A clock tower
(elevator shaft) separates the upper and lower entrances and
forms the iconic marker of entry to the overall athletic center.
Formal name
of building:
Nicholas Athletic Center
Location:
Cambridge, Mass.
Gross square
footage:
80,000 sq ft
Total construction
cost:
$ 12.3 million
Owner:
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
Architect's
firm:
Chan Krieger & Associates
8 Story Street, 5th Floor
Cambridge MA 02138
Phone: 617.354.5315
Fax: 617.354.3252
www.chankrieger.com
email@chankrieger.com
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