Carroll Center for the Blind, Technology Classroom Building

Newton, Massachusetts

Firm

Tappé Architects

Client

Carroll Center for the Blind

Area

9,600 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$2,500,000

Completion Date

04/2002

The Carroll Center for the Blind is an internationally recognized school for individuals with visual impairments. The programs concentrate on life skills and professional training.
This new facility has a number of functions, including computer classrooms and a distance-learning lab, faculty offices, a multipurpose room for presentations and school gatherings. It includes six single-occupancy rooms for visiting students and faculty who reside on the campus for short professional-training programs.
The school occupies a 19th-century estate with administration housed in an old horse stable. A critical aspect of the design was to create a contemporary building that complements the character of the campus buildings while reflecting the mission of the new building as a cutting-edge computer training facility.
The architectural concept was to create an intimate, “outdoor classroom” achieved by separating the building into three distinct masses with a two-story academic wing, a 1½-story multipurpose room and a one-story residential wing. The mixed-use nature of the building is revealed in the new quadrangle that in scale remains sensitive to this small campus.