CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Magnet School

Bloomfield, Connecticut

Firm

Friar Architecture

Client

Capital Region Education Council (CREC)

Area

157,142 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$83,020,000

Completion Date

12/2021

Robert Benson Photography

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Design Team
Robert Roach, AIA (Principal-In-Charge); Michael Sorano, AIA (Principal Designer); Bryce Sens, AIA (Associate Principal/Principal Designer); Nicholas Mundo, AIA (Architectural Project Manager); Cristin Auten, NCIDQ (Senior Interior Designer); Jose Ramos (CAD Coordinator)

Since 1966, the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC), working with and for its member districts, has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in Greater Hartford. The CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Magnet School is a new building that serves 876 students in pre-K through grade 8.

The 30-acre site provides an extensive amount of open space for playscapes, play fields, walking trails and an area of protected wetlands. This high-performance building meets LEED Silver equivalent criteria; this was achieved by employing strategies such as in-floor radiant heat, solar photovoltaics, and chilled beam cooling. The HVAC system and solar arrays reduce energy usage and contribute to the building’s sustainability.

Designed to celebrate the arts through light and spatial experience, the facility invites students to participate in dance, music, theater, sculpture, and painting as a foundation for their educational curriculum.

Reflecting these ideas through architecture, sculptural mullions on the façade represent dancers casting shadows that move with the angle of the sun. Students add to the experience through the display of their artwork in the two-story gallery space outside the black box theater. Volumes rotated about a main axis create a dynamic space surrounding the black box theater.

Teaching and sculpture courtyards are central to the school and are extensions of the arts and media specialties. This multiuse venue enable teachers and students to explore several types of performance.

Additional Information

Associated Firm

Capital Region Education Council (CREC); Connecticut Department of Administrative Services; Consulting Engineering Services; Freeman Companies; Santo Domingo Engineering; RJS + Associates; Bartlett Brainard Eacott Inc.