The Mercersburg Academy, Burgin Center for the Arts

Mercersburg, PA, USA
Photo © Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Drawing © Ennead Architects
Photo © Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Photo © Aislinn Weidele/Ennead Architects
Photo © Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Photo © Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Photo © Acoustic Dimensions
Photo © Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Photo © Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Photo © Maxwell Mackenzie
Architekci
ennead architects
Year
2006


This flexible and sophisticated facility for teaching the performing and visual arts encourages cross-disciplinary exploration. The building mass nestles into its sloped site on the main quadrangle, reinforcing the scale of the campus and diminishing the impact of the theater’s fly tower. Natural materials, including wood and Pennsylvania limestone, reinforce the connection with the sylvan landscape on four sides. The floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall envelope blurs the distinction between indoor and outdoor spaces. Transparency of the glass and its luminosity at night reinforce access to the arts. Variable acoustics and advanced theater teaching technologies support the Academy’s goal to incorporate the performing arts into its core curriculum, and the theater provides an assembly space to accommodate the entire school.

Related Projects

  • Shanghai Suhe MixC World
    KOKAISTUDIOS
  • Welcome to the Stage!
    Kjellander Sjöberg
  • Hovering Kan-Too – Great Bay Area Center Showroom
    Wutopia Lab
  • Stockwell-Rodríguez Residence
    Belmont Freeman Architects
  • Haunsbergstraße | 1. Preis
    Architektinnen Schremmer.Jell ZT GmbH

Magazine

Other Projects by ennead architects

Natural History Museum of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Common Ground Community, Schermerhorn House
New York, NY, USA
New York Hall of Science Expansion
Queens, NY, USA
WGBH Public Broadcasting Station Headquarters
Brighton, MA, USA
University of Michigan, Biomedical Science Research Building
Ann Arbor, MI, USA