SOM Associate Directors Meredith Bostwick-Lorenzo Eiroa and Jon Cicconi led a walking tour of St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. on Monday, July 10th. The event, timed with the annual conference of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), focused on the SOM-designed Marriott Hall.
Bostwick-Lorenzo Eiroa and Cicconi led participants in a discussion of how the transformation of the St. Albans campus supports a culture of vigorous inquiry, critical thinking, and spirited discourse. Tucked on the grounds of Washington National Cathedral, the school opened in 1909 and, in the absence of a master plan, developed slowly over time. To fulfill its ongoing mission, St. Albans set out to both consolidate and expand its educational space. Marriott Hall was completed in 2009 as a new extension of the historic campus.
Marriott Hall provides additional classrooms, faculty offices, informal social spaces, and amenities. Its design creates a continuous circulation system, an important goal of the renovation process, by correcting the once disparate flooring and connecting internal and public spaces. The hall establishes a cohesive link with not only the school’s existing buildings, but also the historic surrounding landscape, originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.