Founded in 1813, Kimball Union Academy is situated in the picturesque Upper Connecticut River Valley. OMR completed a Campus Master Plan with goals of integrating and better utilizing their tiered campus, and improving both pedestrian and vehicular circulation. The Master Plan also supports the growth and reorganization of academic spaces, improves housing for both students and faculty, and encourages comprehensive facilities upgrades.
An important challenge for creating a more cohesive KUA community has been to manage traffic and circulation, including the town's Main Street which also runs through the middle of the campus. By significantly reorganizing program and housing spaces, the Master Plan provides focus as well as additional space for each study area, preserves existing buildings for adaptive reuse, and synthesizes the facilities into a coherent whole.
Among three high priorities identified in the Master Plan, OMR prepared conceptual designs for an addition and alterations to the existing science building. Taking advantage of the existing slope, the conceptual design included six new science labs added undera a south-facing "green" roof on the smallest possible footprint. The design supports KUA's goal of providing high-quality environmental education by demonstrating the school's commitment to sustainable design. Phase I of the design engages the Academic Quad by providing new science labs and a terrace that connects the building to the Quad both visually and physically. When Phase I is complete, students will occupy the new science labs and allow Phase II renovations to proceed. Phase II, primarily a renovation of the existing building, will complete interior and exterior circulation systems, helping to knit together the upper and middle campuses.
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