by Michael J. Crosbie

Sometimes an architect's most creative act is to persuade a client to change the program, to reconsider what they think they want. The result can be a fresh approach to the problem, an invitation to see it in a new light. That's what happened at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, a private boarding school that wanted to "tune up and amplify" its music program, which was housed in a rather modest space in the basement of a chapel.

Hotchkiss hired Centerbrook Architects and Planners to design new practice rooms, rehearsal and performance spaces, classrooms, faculty offices, facilities for a radio station, and a music technology studio.

These new facilities would support the 1970s-vintage Walker Auditorium, which was housed in the school's main building at the center of campus. Centerbrook Architects were asked to retrofit the auditorium, long used for dramatic productions, as a venue that would also be suitable for musical performances. Also, the school wanted the venue to pique the interest of students not involved in music and to reach out to the community beyond the Hotchkiss campus.   >>>

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Effers Hall is a new performance space for the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, designed by Centerbrook Architects and Planners, LLC. Photo: Peter Aaron/ Esto Inside Effers Hall. Photo: Peter Aaron/ Esto   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.