Peddie School Arts Expansion: Design as a Teaching Tool
As part of ARC’s ongoing interaction with the arts department at The Peddie School, we met with 22 students in the school’s architecture class to give a presentation on the various steps and challenges involved in the process of designing and building the new addition to the arts center. Our team was excited to have the opportunity to engage Peddie’s community in this unique way by creating a learning experience for students. Thank you to Peddie’s arts department for gathering and sharing all the great student takeaways featured below!
We began by sharing with the students how the process has unfolded over multiple years, starting in 2018 with observing arts classes and meeting with faculty to understand the goals for improving the arts building.
The main takeaway from this experience was that designing something like this takes a lot more time and work than I originally thought. They have been working on this since 2018 and will be until next year. I also realized that it takes a lot of people from different backgrounds to put together a project like this.
Angie Getze '23
We shared how the design effort extended through all the levels of details, as well as the coordination effort with engineers, consultants, and campus stakeholders to arrive at the design, currently almost halfway through construction with a completed steel and concrete frame for the new addition.
My takeaway is that every detail is very intentional and ultimately is geared towards the goal of making the new arts center a unique building that will stand out on Peddie campus. As the architects were describing their choices, they pointed out aspects that I would have never noticed. This shows the high attention to detail that an architect must have.
Kyla Wilby '22
A key focus was on the truly collaborative process that good architectural design must follow. Over 40 people worked together throughout the design process and many more during construction.
My main takeaway from the time spent with the architects is that being an architect is not a solo job. There are people set up around you that you must be able to communicate and work well with, because your success will ultimately be determined by your workforce and the people you have helping you. In addition, I realized all the different processes and steps that go into just one project and how long one building could take to make.
Kyle Ferguson '23
After the presentation and discussion, the group took a tour through the construction site and observed the realities of how the building is taking shape. The group was particularly excited to see the large bay window in the new lobby space, which connected to a current design challenge project they are working on in class for bay windows.
This was a really amazing opportunity. I learned so much about real-world applications in the architectural process. The rundown of the building and their ideas, complications, and solutions were super interesting. The tour was also an extremely unique chance to visit and learn from a construction site especially after seeing what it once was as well as the plans for what is to come there.
Ibrahim Khan '24
Sharing details of the design and construction progress allowed the project to serve as a valuable teaching tool, revealing the layers of complexity beyond the finished and visible surfaces.
The main takeaway is that I learned about how architects have to use their minds to imagine the effect of the building when facing troubles constructing it. There are many cases where people cannot see the overall effect of the building when constructing it. The sense of how the overall building will look like is a key idea for the architects
Jerry Jin '24
Our team was thrilled to hear all of the diverse and thoughtful student takeaways. Thank you for the opportunity to spend a day with your students, The Peddie School!
