News

August 28, 2007
Centerbrook Announces 2007 Travel Grant Recipients
Centerbrook is pleased to announce that Edward J. Keagle, AIA, Hyeon Ju Son, AIA, Erik Lübeck, and Mary M. Wilson, AIA are the recipients of the 2007 travel grants.

Each year Centerbrook awards two to four travel grants to members of the firm who “best exemplify selfless devotion to the successful execution of a building's design.” Each recipient receives a paid leave of absence and a stipend to enable them to visit and research a place of architectural interest anywhere in the world. Since the inception of the program in 1987 Centerbrook has awarded 71 travel grants.

September 20, 2007
Centerbrook Hired to Design Master Plan for a “Campus of History” on the site of President James Buchanan’s Estate
The Lancaster County Historical Society and the James Buchanan Foundation for the Preservation of Wheatland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania have hired Centerbrook to design a master plan for the creation of a “Campus of History” that will encompass these adjacent properties. James Buchanan was the 15th President of the United States (1857-1861), preceding Abraham Lincoln. Buchanan bought the estate in 1848 and died there in 1868. The Lancaster County Historical Society, established in 1886, is a premier center for the study of local and regional history in central Pennsylvania.

The “Campus of History” will draw on the strengths and resources of both institutions and allow them to offer their significant historic treasures to the public in a vibrant, revitalized campus.

October 1, 2007
Centerbrook’s Office Featured on National Green Buildings Open House Tour
Saturday, October 6 from 10AM – 4PM
Centerbrook’s office at 67 Main Street in Centerbrook will be part of a national open house tour of green buildings on Saturday, October 6, 2007 from 10AM to 4PM. The tour is an annual event organized by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) in conjunction with the American Solar Energy Society’s annual Solar Tour.

The tour is an opportunity for the public to visit Centerbrook and see technologies that can save energy, money, and the environment. Centerbrook uses clean energy to generate approximately 30% of their annual electrical needs. Featured on the tour will be solar photovoltaic panels, a hydro power turbine, and a green roof.

October 19, 2007
Phillips Exeter Academy Celebrates LEED Silver Certification of Student Center
Phillips Exeter Academy held a ceremony today to celebrate the installation of a LEED Silver Plaque from the U. S. Green Building Council at the Phelps Academy Center, Exeter’s student center.

The U. S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED recognizes performance in five key areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

December 3, 2007
Maud Gatewood Studio Arts Building receives 2007 SARA Honor Award
The Maud Gatewood Studio Arts Building at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro received a 2007 Honor Award from SARA, the Society of American Registered Architects. This national program honors excellence in design.

The Studio Arts Building provides a wide range of visual arts studios plus classrooms, a foundry, a ceramics workshop, an art gallery, interior architecture studios, and an outdoor sculpture court. The SARA award jury noted that "This project created a series of great spaces inside, particularly the design studio on the top floor."

Centerbrook was the Design Architect of the Studio Arts Building. Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern in Charlotte, North Carolina was the Architect of Record.

January 7, 2008
Park East Synagogue receives Honor Award in Faith & Form’s 2007 Religious Art & Architecture Award Program This national program honors design excellence and is co-sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art & Architecture.

The Faith & Form jury commented that "The building is rich in symbolism, while the detailing and finishes are wonderful. The aesthetic reverberates throughout the building. The use of natural lighting is wonderful. The porticos are a welcoming gesture, suggestive of a rabbi’s hands extended in blessing. This incredibly powerful symbol is echoed in the canopy over the bimah. Well crafted and elegant."

February 1, 2008
Stenciling Party at the Lewis Walpole Library
Centerbrook organized a stenciling party with the staff of the Lewis Walpole Library to decorate the new classroom in Centerbrook’s addition to the library.

The Lewis Walpole Library in Farmington, Connecticut is a department of Yale University Library. It is an internationally recognized research institute for eighteenth-century studies and the primary center for the study of Horace Walpole, the English man of letters.

The stencil design is based on the Gothic woodwork of Walpole’s famous library at Strawberry Hill outside London. Centerbrook scaled the design to act as a decorative frieze for the room. The stencils were cut from mylar using a laser cutter in Centerbrook’s model shop. After practicing on paper, participants stenciled the entire room in about 4 hours.

April 25, 2008
Centerbrook hosts CT Green Building Council’s Spring Event
Members of the CT Green Building Council (CTGBC) visited Centerbrook’s office on Thursday evening, April 24 for tours of Centerbrook’s “green laboratory” and a lecture by partner Mark Simon on the new Kroon Hall at Yale University.

It was an opportunity for CTGBC members to see Centerbrook’s solar photovoltaic (PV) rooftop panels, hydro power turbine, and green roof. Visitors also heard about Centerbrook’s plans to install a pond source geothermal heat pump in the mill pond of the Falls River this summer. Centerbrook makes approximately 30% of its own electricity itself using hydro and solar power. Mark Simon closed the evening with a presentation on Kroon Hall, Yale's new School of Forestry & Environmental Studies building. Now under construction, Yale intends Kroon Hall to be their “green flagship.”

May 9, 2008
Centerbrook receives AIA 2008-2011 Intern Development Program Award
This national award honors architecture firms that have an “exemplary environment for interns pursuing licensure.” Recipients maintain their award for three years. The Intern Development Program (IDP) is a comprehensive training program that is structured to advise and mentor architectural interns. Completion of IDP is one of the requirements for an architect’s license in 49 states.

In honoring Centerbrook with the award, the AIA jury cited the firm for their supplementary education activities under ‘Centerbrook U’ and their Travel Grant Awards. Centerbrook U was established to train interns to develop a complete and accurate set of project drawings. Centerbrook’s Travel Grants recognize staff who exemplify selfless devotion to a successful building design. It is awarded annually to several recipients and consists of a paid leave of absence and a stipend for travel anywhere in the world to research a place of architectural interest.

June 3, 2008
Centerbrook to design new Child Care Center for Princeton University
The new Center, with capacity for 80 infants and toddlers and 80 preschool children, is expected to almost double the number of child care spaces available at the University. It will be open to the children of faculty, staff, students, and if space allows, to members of the Princeton community.

“This is an enormous commitment on the part of the University and an important facet of our efforts to create a more family-friendly environment for our faculty, staff, and students,” said Joan Girgus, professor of psychology and special assistant to the dean of the faculty for matters relating to gender equity, in a University release. Girgus chaired the University’s Child Care Working Group from 2005-2007. Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman asked the group to plan for a significant expansion and improvement of child care at the University.

The Center is expected to open in fall 2011.

June 12, 2008
Manchester Community College awards Honorary Degree to Chad Floyd
Citing the “transformational difference” he has made to their campus, Manchester Community College awarded Chad Floyd an Associate in Humane Letters Honorary Degree during its June commencement. The award is the highest honor the Board of Trustees can bestow and recognizes outstanding services performed on behalf of the College.

Mr. Floyd was the master planner and architect for Manchester Community College’s $52 million expansion in 2003. This included the construction of a new library, laboratories for computer, science, language, and media instruction, art studios, general purpose classrooms, an art gallery, an auditorium, faculty offices, and food service facilities. The new buildings create a sweeping oval courtyard with existing buildings and are punctuated by iconic glassy towers that mark the entrances to the campus.