REVAMP

THE ACADEMY BREAKS GROUND ON A $10.8-MILLION PROJECT TO EXPAND KILTON AND WELCH.

BY TRICIA MCKEON

Laughter streaming from the lounge, conversations with a dorm parent over a plate of warm cookies, rooming with a new friend from across an ocean, late-night study sessions in a classmate’s room, floor hockey in the hallway on a snowy day—for KUA alumni and students, dorm life evokes many memories from their time on The Hilltop. So when the Academy undertook the process of creating a Campus Master Plan in 2020, followed by a Strategic Plan in 2022, the experiences of students and faculty emerged as a focus area. “Our residential program is a central part of the experience for every student and adult at KUA, and this project is about creating spaces—appealing, spacious, safe, and welcoming living spaces for students and faculty,” says Head of School Tyler Lewis.

As a result, KUA is making strategic improvements in facilities to provide an equitable experience for all. With a physical plant that in some corners of campus dates more than 200 years, the Academy is committed to restoring historic buildings while adding complementary spaces to meet the needs of today’s community. The first step of this multi-phase project is focused on the residential communities at Kilton and Welch Residential Halls.

“Our aim is to improve the daily lived experiences of our students and our faculty, and our community came together in stating this as the No. 1 priority for the people of KUA,” says Lewis.

With fundraising and institutional investments totaling $11 million, the Academy was able to break ground on the project in May. Residence halls are slated to open in fall 2024. With successful fundraising efforts, Kilton will expand from a 14-bed to a 31-bed residence hall. Two three- or four-bedroom adjoining faculty homes will be added to provide additional touchpoints between adults and students. Next door, at Welch, the dorm will expand to include 18 student beds and an additional faculty home.

Lewis says the addition of faculty homes is in keeping with KUA’s ongoing commitment to attract and retain top faculty who can comfortably live and raise their own families while building meaningful connections with students. With the Upper Valley experiencing a housing crisis, the new construction is also timely.

The residence halls will center around an outdoor quad where students can gather with friends and faculty to socialize, play, and exercise. Full kitchens and an ample seating area will create gathering spaces for shared meals, events, or movies.

“What we know from both the headline news and the research is that our teenage students are working through many more social-emotional issues than in the past,” says Assistant Head of School Tom Kardel. “Creating these residences is one way we can better help address student needs and facilitate student-adult interactions so we can have more eyes on kids and create better and deeper relationships.”

“What I loved about living in Kilton was how close everyone was,” says Adi Runge ’25, who lived in the residence hall for the past two years. “It was like a family—we were always there for each other. Kilton was such a place of comfort for me.”

Kardel says that although only some students will reside in the new residential halls, all students—including day students—will benefit from the new spaces.

“An important driver in the design of these spaces is moving away from larger, institutional-style buildings to something closer to a home-like experience,” he says. “These residence halls will create smaller spaces like those that students might find at home.”

Identifying an architect required finding someone who could balance an understanding of student and faculty experiences with longterm residential, sustainability, and energy plans.

It should come as no surprise the most suitable architect is Andrea Murray ’87, the founder and principal of Vermont Integrated

Architects. The Vermont native, who called both Kilton and Welch “home” as a boarding student at KUA, returns to The Hilltop to create a comfortable and sustainable home for future generations.

“Our firm is committed to creating buildings that are not only good for people but good for our natural environment,” says Murray. “They will not be using fossil fuels and will source materials that are non-toxic and have minimal impact on the environment.”

The project is also attracting teachers who see educational opportunities as a natural extension of this work. Students in Ryan McKeon’s “Design Thinking” courses tackled four open design topics related to the new living spaces: dorm-room features, bathrooms, gear storage, and outdoor space. The teams used design thinking, which brings a human-centered approach to creative problem solving, to survey students on how they think, feel, and behave in relation to their living spaces.

Murray joined the groups’ presentations, which delved into quality-of-life topics that felt relevant to residents. They examined everything from desk preferences to how and where to recycle, from how New Hampshire humidity impacts flooring to whether they view free time as “chill” or “active.”

“The real joy has come from listening to students,” says Murray. “It’s eye-opening and funny to hear the thoughts of what needs to happen through the students’ lens. They are going to take this experience out into the world, and it will be exponential.” K

Help Us Make a Home on The Hilltop

The start of this project was made possible through the generous investments of lead donors and with support of the Kimball Union Academy Board of Trustees. Successful completion of this project is reliant upon continued support of the KUA community. If you are interested in learning about further developments and supporting this project, please contact Stacey Summerfield, director of institutional advancement, at ssummerfield@kua.org or (603) 469-2125.