Peabody College for Education, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
RETROFIT TEAM
ARCHITECT OF RECORD: Centric Architecture
DESIGN ARCHITECT: SGA
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Messer Construction
MATERIALS
The renovation scope included all new MEP systems, new exterior doors and windows, all new finishes, lighting, security, egress and other improvements. The connector’s glass façade looks over the Peabody Esplanade and utilizes energy-efficient glass, vertical fins and natural foliage shading for enhanced efficiency.
THE RETROFIT
The project, completed in 2020, features historic exterior restorations on two existing 1912-era Beaux Arts buildings while transforming existing spaces into active learning classrooms, collaboration areas and a new campus café.
The 71,000-square-foot renovation project fulfills Peabody College’s wish to create a new graduate student center, which is housed within a 16,000-square-foot “jewel box” connector addition that splits the pre-existing structure in two. Where concrete walls once stood, a 3-story glass façade now adds depth, flooding the new atrium with natural light. The façade’s vertical patterning reinterprets the neoclassical columns on the now-conjoining buildings and creates an ideal area for students to study, learn and socialize.
Winner of the AIA Tennessee Design Award—and seeking LEED Gold certification and the Materials Petal of the Living Building Challenge—this reimagined teaching and learning environment now features open floor plans, integrated technology and ultra-flexibility, offering premier instructional facilities for tomorrow’s teachers.
PHOTOS: courtesy SGA