Friends School of Baltimore Dining Hall

Educational, Sustainable

The project fills a critical place in Friends School of Baltimore's masterplan: the end of a ‘village street’, the main axis of campus. The spot, occupied by a cafeteria from the 1980s, is now a destination at the scale of the campus, at the smaller scale it organizes the plaza in front of the building. The campus’ established formal language is casual Collegiate Gothic in stucco, stone, and earthtone brick. Tradition of invention and play within gothic architecture allows this contemporary update to include slot and strip windows, composed with control joints of the stucco. The building takes part in a conversation across time, enhancing the cultural environment by simultaneously respecting tradition and creating something new.

The program includes space for learning, gathering, dining, and exercise. The project integrates these activities into an attitude about architecture and overall wellness for the students, faculty, and the larger community. The program is arranged to facilitate connections between different groups. Students who come to eat lunch can socialize with others here for class or shopping, in a lobby that opens into an exercise room through a glass wall. An outdoor eating deck overlooks activity on the campus.

The building is a reconfigurable machine, with a tunable internal environment. The ceiling of the main room is a continuous active surface, fine tuning natural versus artificial light, and ambient versus projected sound. Artificial lights are never needed during school hours - 21 skylights wash the room with an even, glare-free daylight. The ceiling integrates multimedia in a deployed screen and projector and uses active and passive environmental strategies, with air delivery and high performance structural insulation.