History shapes Academy buildings

By Cecilia Nowell

The Albuquerque Academy’s red bricks line the paths and envelop the buildings, stick out of place and make students trip over them, but like all other aspects of the school’s architecture, they too have a very specific purpose. However, while the bricks remained a constant theme across campus as the school underwent significant changes, other aspects of the school’s architecture changed significantly.
Albuquerque Academy was founded in 1955, in the basement of a church on Fourth Street. Shortly thereafter the school moved to Osuna and Edith, Sandia Prep’s current location. At the Osuna location the Academy consisted of three buildings with an additional building for the Head of School’s office. At the time, the student body was made up of about 180 boys with 15 faculty members. When the school chose to move from the Osuna location, Albert G. Simms decided that if the school was going to grow he wanted it to prosper and therefore gave the school large pieces of land, stock and funding. Ground was broken in the fall of 1965 and one year later Albuquerque Academy moved to its current location.
Blueprints for the original campus included many buildings that are on campus today, but there were also plans that never came into effect or changed over the years. The East Campus Dining Hall was part of the blueprints for the campus; however, the building was remodeled as the student body grew. The East Campus Gym was also in the original plans. North Hall and Brown Hall, then called South Hall, both existed, but North Hall was home to the Junior School, or grades five through seven, and Brown Hall housed grades eight through twelve. Many of the rooms in North and Brown Hall were science labs. The school also included the administration building, which originally included the library and some art classrooms. The final building that was incorporated in the campus’ blueprints was a chapel. At the time chapels were common aspects of most independent schools. While chapels are commonly associated as a religious symbol, the ones in independent schools at the time were “more commonly something laical,” said Richard Adam, Archivist. However, in the end the school decided not to build the chapel due to a lack of funding. Many aspects of the school’s architecture are based off of the St. Louis Country Day School, where former Head of School Ashby Harper worked before he came to the Academy.
The primary factor that caused most of the changes to the school’s architecture was the increase in student population. In 1984 the first class with an equal number of boys and girls was admitted to the Academy. While some girls had been admitted to grades 9-12 in 1973, the population was skewed so that there were four boys to every one girl. As the student body continued to grow the fifth grade was eliminated due to space issues. A campus which had originally been built for less than 500 students was now rapidly approaching a student body of over 1000. Therefore, in 1985 the Lower School was built and library and science buildings were built in 1991. “Part of the concept of building the library and the science building was to have something that would tend to draw students from both campuses towards the middle, and also feel like less of a distance when you had something in between,” said Gary Gordon, School Treasurer.
According to Adam, if the school were to receive adequate funding, there are a few buildings that it would like to build. The school would like to build a new Experiential Education building due to the limited amount of space in the current Experiential Education offices. An extension to the Fine Arts building is under consideration, given that space is also limited in the building. “We have plans for an auditorium that can fit the whole school,” said William Kuh, English Faculty Member. “Who knows where we will put [the buildings], or if we will build them.”
Albuquerque Academy has grown and changed significantly in the last 55 years. The school’s growth, both in population and size, resulted from the demand for the education that the school provided. However, one of the factors that has remained important to the school over the years has been its architecture. “I think that if you have beautiful buildings that are well taken care of, then students tend to be more serious and engaged in what they’re doing,” said Gordon. “I’m a big believer that schools need to beautiful….you want places of open expression and open ideas and you want imagination and you can’t really have any of those things with buildings that aren’t elegant.”

Campus aesthetic incroporates mesa

by Celine Gordon

Early in the morning the sun hits the Academy quad, illuminating an array of red brick arches, shingled rooftops and the imperious windows flanking the administration building. Students arrive and venture to get a smoothie at the large East Campus dining hall, festooned with sweeping arches and stained glass Academy seals.  At eight ’o clock students meander to their classes and gaze listlessly out the windows and into the courtyard facing Brown Hall. During free periods, they toss a disc outside in the quad, play horseshoes or ping pong near the amphitheater outside the music building or retreat down the brick walkway to one of the many small nooks and crannies of the Library for some quiet studying.  All day Academy students learn and thrive on the campus surrounded by bricks, arches and views of the mesa and Sandia mountains. The architecture of the Academy creates a unique sense of hospitality and community in everything from the sweeping, iconic entry marked by the music building down to the mysterious tunnels below the school.

The Academy campus has a distinctive style that runs throughout the school. The buildings were inspired by Spanish Missionary revival architecture but use materials such as brick and shingled pitched roofs to give the school an east coast feel. “[The campus] is more east coast than New Mexico for sure,” said William Kuh, English faculty member.  Archivist Rich Adam said that Van Holein, the architect of the original campus, chose the bricks because he wanted a color similar to the feeling of heat that adobe gives off, but also something extremely durable because of the high UV levels in Albuquerque and the intense amount of wind that the campus was subjected to.

When designing the campus, Holein drew inspiration from his travels in North Africa, modeling the quad after the way the towns were built, centered around a main square.  He also created the distinctive arches in the quad and on the façade of the Administration building in order to portray a sense of spaciousness, particularly because the campus was isolated at that time. Treasurer, Gary Gordon ’79 said that the most important aspect of the Academy architecture is that the buildings have remained consistent with Holein’s original design, despite having different construction dates. “I think the buildings are pretty timeless,” Gordon said. “They all have this style that mostly blends with everything [they’re] next to.”

Despite the architecture’s emphasis on tradition, architects of the newer buildings added their own aesthetic to the existing standards. When designing the Library, architecture firm Sheply Bulfinch (which also worked on buildings for Amherst, Brown, Colombia, Harvard and Yale) incorporated a series of circles into the interior design, to portray a sense of unity.  They also created a space in which you can stand in the center of the foyer and look directly into the back of all three wings of the building. This design was later duplicated by Cherry Hills Library across the street on Harper. When designing the Music building, architect Bill Sabatini said he wanted to create “another entrance to the campus.” He created a curving façade, housing three incrementally larger practice rooms and a performance hall at the end. “It made music,” Sabatini said. “The shapes and arrangement added interest to the design.”

The large plot of land and views of the Sandias also influenced the way in which the buildings were laid out.  “The best thing about [the campus] is the negative space,” Sabatini said. According to Sabatini, the ideal New Mexico weather and large open space allowed for the campus to be spread out. Students are able to roam from building to building without having to travel through a maze of hallways.

According to Tommy Franchini, former superintendent of buildings and grounds, a major remodel that took place during the 1980s allowed the newly constructed Library and Science building to incorporate the outdoors, while unifying the upper and lower campuses. Positioning the two buildings in the direct center of the campus, Franchini converted a road into what is now the brick walkway that spans from the Lower School up to the Administration building. This remodel prevented vehicle traffic on campus, making it a more calm and student-friendly space.

From its conception, the campus has taken into account the views around campus.  Holein originally designed North and Brown Hall to exist up against a raised plane so as to look as though they are one story instead of two. Franchini also said that the view was a major concern during his project and that the administration would not allow him to position buildings obstructing the east facade of the Library and Science buildings.

The outdoors also largely influenced the interior of most of the buildings. According to Franchini, in every classroom and common area there is either a view of the Sandias or a view overlooking the East Campus.  This is apparent in the sweeping picturesque windows of the dining hall overlooking the mesa; the ceiling to floor, corner-anchored windows of the Music building offering a view of the Sandias and the rows of windows lining the Library offering a peek at the upper campus and the newly constructed Japanese Garden, along with a clerestory for an added view of the sky.  This excess of windows not only allows students to look outside but also allows for natural lighting, reducing the need for the ubiquitous buzzing florescent bulbs found in most schools.

The most important aspect of the campus’s design is the way in which students interact with it. According to Franchini, during each building’s construction, architects worked closely with the administration and the faculty and staff members that would use the building in order to created a space catered specifically to the students’ needs. For example, the music building was designed to have no stairs so teachers and students could easily roll large instruments from the classrooms to the theater. The furniture in the 6/7 reading room was sized down to accommodate smaller children. When construction began on the Library and Science building, trees that students had planted years before were preserved and relocated to the lower campus. “People are influenced by their environment,” Sabatini said. “It shows students we care about them by making the physical environment as nice and caring as possible.”

The flow and consistency of the architecture also create a calming effect, where students can learn, study and socialize. Sabatini said he believed that the unity, quality and care put into the architecture reflect the school as a whole. “The campus is hospitable,” he said. “It speaks volumes about the Academy.”

Spotlight on Academy buildings:

Academy architecture more than just bricks

by Christina Fox

The Academy’s architecture follows themes of unity and functionality; even though the buildings seem similar, many have unique aspects that make them interesting. They each have distinctive purposes and histories and were thoughtfully designed to serve the school’s purposes. Some of the most interesting architectural features are found in the music building, the administration building, Simms Library and the arches.

Music Building

Behind a heavy door somewhere on campus lies a small, angular room with skewed pyramids jutting like teeth from the ceiling tiles and walls. It is not a secret inquisition chamber; it is the recording room of the music building. Five parallel grooves in the red bricks on the west side of the building present another mystery of the music building. When viewed from a distance, square windows placed at intervals in between the lines mimic an old system of musical notation. The easily overlooked alignment actually carries a hidden message: the windows are musical notes that that denote a Gregorian chant.

The architects’ insightful and meticulous design created a music building whose striking design builds on its unique functionality. “I don’t think there’s another school building quite as pretty as that one that does as much work every single day,” said John Truitt, a former Performing Arts faculty member.

 The music building was built after the music program had outgrown its previous location in the backstage area of Simms Auditorium. “A couple things were going on at the time [the music building was planned],” Truitt said. “There was a need for a senior commons, a large meeting place and music rehearsal space.” Bill Sabatini was chosen as the architect for the building, and the planning was done by members of the Performing Arts faculty, the administration, the Board of Trustees and the architects. 

The architecture of the building is centered on the acoustic needs of the three main rehearsal rooms and the performance hall, which shoot off the curved hallway like spokes of a wheel. Sabatini consulted with an acoustician while planning the building and studied how sound travels. None of the walls of the four largest rooms are adjoining, soundproofing each room so that simultaneous rehearsals do not disturb each other. Sandwiched in the angular spaces between the largest rooms are seven soundproof practice rooms, instrument storage and a recording room.

 The shape and interior design of the rooms themselves are also influenced by the acoustic needs of each musical group. “Each room has to have its own acoustic environment,” Truitt said. “The band room can’t be the chorus room; the chorus room can’t be the orchestra room.” The unique design criteria for each music room dictate everything from the non-symmetrical angles of the walls to the vinyl or cloth-covered panels that hang from them. Even the noiseless lights were selected so that they would not interfere with the sound quality.

Passing through the music building, it’s easy to miss the unique traits that make it such an interesting building. If you take the time to look around, however, you’ll find many intriguing features. “It’s not a building that you’re supposed to sit down in,” Truitt said. “It’s a building you’re supposed to do in….You can tell it’s the music building.”

Administration Building

Since its construction in 1969, the administration building has served many purposes, but its red-bricked, arched façade has remained the architectural heart of the school.

The original library was located in the back of the administration building, in the area that is now occupied by Technology and Information Services (TIS) and the business offices. “It was a terrific library,” Math faculty member Darell Gage said. “It was beautiful.” The conference rooms were occupied by the art studio and music classes were once held in the basement of the administration building, an area that is now used for storage.

The administration building represents the school, with the new welcoming board that offers visitors insight into the mission and workings of the Academy and the timeline that illustrates our history. The Academy seal just inside the main entrance is carefully skirted around by students and faculty alike – one of the most honored traditions associated with the architecture of the school.

Library

Located in the center of the campus, the spire at the top of the Dr. Albert G. and Barbara Young Simms Library is the highest point in the school, symbolizing the academic center of the school and the unity between the upper and lower campuses. The library attracts students from both campuses with a range of interests. It is not a dead area with dusty shelves and lonely tables, but rather a place of activity.

Many classes meet in the library, permanently or for short-term projects, and it is a place of (almost) quiet study and computer access for many students. The library was designed with this activity and unity in mind. The reading rooms and classrooms were also included to broaden the library’s functionality.

The library is named for Dr. Albert G. Simms II, the nephew of the Albert Simms who donated the Academy’s land, and his wife, Barbara. Simms Library was built as one project along with the science building in 1991, and designed by architecture firm Shepley Bulfinch of Boston. The columns along the side of the buildings are not only for decoration – they architecturally support the roof and make it earthquake-resistant. Natural lighting and aspects of passive solar design are included in the library building. The Academy received an award from the Boston Society of Architects commemorating the architecture of the library and science buildings.

When the library opened, a ceremonial book pass was held in which students lined the path from the lower school library to the upper school one, passing books hand to hand towards the new center library. Albert Simms was present at the book passing. “I heard Mrs. Simms say, ‘Albert! You’re not supposed to be reading them! Pass them!’” said Rich Adam, Archivist.

Arches

While the architecture of most of the buildings of the Academy is driven in all aspects by functionality or symbolism, the six brick arches across from the administration building seem to lack purpose. The structure provides some shelter from stormy weather, but students must brave the downpour to reach them. The arches are unique in that they came about for mostly aesthetic reasons – they complete the fourth side of the quad – but at one point in the Academy’s history, the structure also served a practical purpose.

Originally, there was a road where the brick path is now. Cars entered the campus from Wyoming Blvd., drove on the one-way road to the west end of the quad and followed the path past the current library and science buildings. “The arches were a place where people would get in and out of cars,” said Gary Gordon, Treasurer and former Board of Trustees member. The central road was replaced by the current loop when the West campus was constructed, but the arches remain standing.