Simon Student Center

The signature feature of the Simon Student Center is its oval-shaped pavilion with a glass façade that sits atop a stone terrace in a dramatic architectural expression that takes full advantage of the topography, affording a panoramic view of the school’s playing fields.

Client

Mercersburg Academy

Location Mercersburg, PA
Size 45,777 Sq. Ft.
Features addition, renovation
Program dining, kitchen, servery, lounge, game rooms, meeting spaces
Year Completed 2013
Photo Credit Jeff Goldberg/Esto
“This place just reinforces for me all that is good about our community. When you get the architecture right, whether it's a building or a program, the actual structure melts into the background and possibilities and opportunities abound--and I think that is what has happened here already.” Associate Head of School Debbie Rutherford

The Simon Student Center consists of three additions to, as well as top-to-bottom renovation of the previous student center, which was originally carved out of the basement level of Mercersburg’s dining facility. Dining, kitchen, and servery areas also were expanded and renovated. The resulting juxtaposition of new and old establishes a modern, dynamic accent without overwhelming the 50-year-old neo-Georgian dining hall.

Then-student council president Gun Ho Ro told the celebratory crowd at the dedication, “Tonight is the grand opening, but the students have already been enjoying this space for almost four weeks. I can tell you that we have already found it to be a remarkable place.”

Head of school at the time, Douglas Hale told the gathering, “I can say with complete confidence that all of us—all faculty, all students, everyone—rejoice in this magnificent new student center and the increased scope and vision and usefulness it makes possible for every single student at Mercersburg.”

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Mercersburg is a prestigious Pennsylvania co-ed school with 430 boarding and day students. It counts among its notable alumni seven Rhodes scholars, three recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, a Nobel laureate, 54 Olympians, and two Academy Award winners.

Centerbrook also designed the Head of School Residence at Mercersburg.