zoning Master Plan Submission
Our shared values shape our teaching and learning in and out of the classroom.
St. Catherine’s Mission Statement
A great education is more than acquiring knowledge. We are in the business of preparing girls for lives of purpose.
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1.
INTRODUCTION
2.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3.
OVERALL CAMPUS VISION
4.
EXISTING USES
5.
PLANNED USES
6.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
7.
TRAFFIC
8.
O P E N S PA C E S
INTRO St. Catherine’s School has for over 125 years, provided outstanding educational environments for young women. The strategic master plan embodied in this document aims to continue the legacy of excellence on our campus and in our classrooms. Below is a brief history of our school and information about our mission and values. The school was founded by Virginia Randolph Ellett in 1890 as “Miss Jennie’s School” and was the fist school in Richmond to send girls to college. In 1917 the school was incorporated and moved to its present site in the Westhampton area of Richmond. It was sold to the Episcopal Church in 1920 and renamed for St. Catherine, the patron saint of young women. The school has evolved greatly since its early days with a greatly expanded campus, curriculum, and student body. Motto: “What we keep we lose; only what we give remains our own.” Mission: St. Catherine’s School provides a rigorous education that prepares girls with diverse perspectives for a lifetime of learning, leadership and service in a global community. Core Values: To fulfill our mission and pursue our vision, we take these values as core: Pursuing academic excellence: We cultivate intellectual habits in which we take joy in learning through energetic inquiry, analytical and creative thinking, and continual striving to reach new levels. Developing character: We teach individuals to live with integrity, responsibility, confidence, compassion and respect for themselves and others. Nurturing spiritual growth: We enable each person to deepen her faith through worship, reflection, humility and the recognition of God in every human being. Celebrating individuals: We recognize the unique gifts and potential of each person and help each to recognize the strength that comes from differences. Building community: We build up community within and beyond the school through teaching social responsibility, inclusiveness and leadership to prepare each person to serve others and contribute to healing the world.
Executive summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY St. Catherine’s School (“St. Catherine’s”) has fashioned a Strategic Plan for enhancing academic programing for its students. St. Catherine’s developed this Master Plan to guide the future redevelopment of the campus and to provide additional on-campus parking in furtherance of the Strategic Plan. This Master Plan for the St. Catherine’s campus will guide the redevelopment of the campus in the years to come. This redevelopment will take place on the back half of the campus and will include: • A new visual and performing arts facility (Arts and Innovation Center), which replaces the existing performance arts building; • A new parking structure, with a new athletic field on top, in the same location as the current athletic field; • Expansion of the lower school buildings; and • The location for new buildings if needed to support the mission of St. Catherine’s. Under this Master Plan, St. Catherine’s believes these changes will: • Provide its students with an enhanced learning environment to pursue academic excellence; • Augment its academic programs and incorporate technological advances to prepare its students for their futures; • Improve parking conditions, both on-campus and for the surrounding area; • Provide a better playing field which would adequately support students’ practices, games, physical education classes and recess; and • Guide redevelopment to have a positive impact on our neighbors and surrounding community. Implementation of the Strategic Plan in conjunction with this Master Plan will enable St. Catherine’s to continue to provide a rigorous education that prepares its student with diverse perspectives for a lifetime of learning, leadership and service in a global community.
Campus vision
Campus Vision The initial planning and design process for the Campus Master Plan involved an inventory of existing conditions on site at St. Catherine’s School. The following diagrams show a visual account of the existing buildings and their function, vehicular & pedestrian circulation patterns, parking, open space, and built structures. Each of these diagrams illustrates an effort by the project team to analyze and understand the existing conditions in order to determine the appropriate design response. The proposed new Arts and Innovation Center (AIC) will provide much-needed space for arts programs on the campus, in a manner which will integrate with the existing structures and utilities, building on the architectural traditions and character currently in place on the campus. Building Program: The building program for the planned and future St Catherine’s facilities include a new 550 seat performing arts center with stage and fly tower and associated support functions, dance rehearsal space, studio arts academic space, lower school academic and support spaces, general academic and support spaces, a new artificial turf sports playing field, and structured parking for 240-270 cars. Existing Zoning Conditions and Utilities Easement Diagram An inventory of the existing zoning conditions and utility easements help to define graphically which areas on site are available for future building expansion. The diagrams illustrate that the southern portion of the site has existing underground utilities although a closer examination revealed that the only utility that cannot be altered is the 48” Sanitary Force Main which runs east-west on the southern edge of the property. Gas, telephone, storm sewer, and sanity sewer can all be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Site Geometry and Proposed Design Scheme St. Catherine’s campus is bordered on all four sides by vehicular roads; however, the two roads that run roughly on the North-South axis (St. Catherine Lane and Maple Avenue) dictate the geometry that will be carried into the proposed expansion. Maple Avenue aligns with the current Kenney Athletic center and implies that at least a portion of the proposed AIC building should align with the existing building to help define the architectural edge of the campus along Maple Avenue. It is our belief that the proposed building should enhance the experience that is St. Catherine’s, and that the existing formal vocabulary should be considered and integrated to ensure a cohesive campus design and character. At the center of the campus there is a formal green space, or lawn, around which most campus buildings are organized. The axial relationship of buildings on opposing sides of this formal green space are an important part of the overall campus design and will be emphasized by the placement of the Performing Arts Center portion of the Arts and Innovation Center directly on the north south axis, opposite of Bacot Hall, the “Old Main” academic and administrative building. Currently, McVey Hall occupies this spot on campus, but does not take full advantage of its important position on the campus green. The existing physical plant is currently located in the area along Maple Avenue where the new building will be located, so plans have been made to relocate and screen this structure further south along Maple Avenue. On the lowest elevation, and southernmost location on campus, we have proposed a partially below grade parking structure for 240-270 cars with an artificial turf playing field on top. The parking structure will be clad in brick and precast on the sides where it emerges from grade. Access to the parking will occur on separate entry and exit roads off of Maple Avenue.
EXISTING CONDITIONS ZONING PLAN
EXISTING USES
E X I S T I N G U S E N A R R AT I V E The existing building and facility program uses for the St. Catherine’s Grove Avenue campus is described in this section. The existing academic buildings, sports facilities, offices, and support spaces are labeled in the legend below as well as the site plan on the following page.
EXISTING USE LEGEND 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.
Bacot Hall: main offices, Middle and Upper School classrooms Dining Hall: dining, kitchen, and café Washington Hall: Middle School classrooms Kenny Sports and Fitness Center: athletic facility including gym areas and indoor pool Power plant: central mechanical plant Scene Shop: theatre scene shop McVey Hall: theatre, dance rooms, and support areas McCue Hall: Lower School classrooms Moore Fine Arts Center: Upper School art classrooms Ellett Hall: Upper School classrooms The Arcade: guidance offices Armfield Science Building: US science classrooms Faculty residences Jones Maintenance Facility: maintenance shop and offices Tennis Courts The Palace: faculty residence Turner Hall, Wright Library, Bannard Chapel: library, offices, Upper School classrooms, chapel Guigon Hall: music classrooms Blair Hall: Business offices, faculty residences Bracket House: bookstore, faculty residence Jeffrey Hall: junior kindergarten Miss Jennie’s: Alumnae offices, Marketing and Communications offices Head of School’s residence: Headmistress’ house Community garden 105 Maple Avenue: Brilliant Summer program offices, residence PROPERTY LINE EXISTING BUILDING
EXISTING USE PLAN
PLANNED USES
P L A N N E D U S E N A R R AT I V E Arts and Innovation Center: The planned use for the proposed Arts and Innovation Center (AIC) will include a performing arts theater, back of house theater support space, scenery shop, dance studios, visual arts classroom studio spaces, an innovation lab space, as well as faculty office space for each department. The performing arts theater will house the St. Catherine’s drama department and will be a shared facility with St. Catherine’s brother school, St. Christopher’s School. The visual arts department will contain studio space for sculpture, painting/ drawing, ceramics, media arts, digital arts, painting, general art space, and an open art gallery to exhibit student work. Turf Field / Structured Parking: In addition to the AIC building, this master plan includes provisions for the addition of an elevated turf sports field as well as structured parking below. The school plans to use the turf field for multiple sports programs including soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse. Spectator bleacher seating will also be included at the field level. The structure parking below will provide additional new parking spaces to serve the entire campus including the proposed AIC facility and turf fields. Future Expansion: This master plan also includes plan for future expansion of the existing lower school as well as a new academic / mechanical building along Maple Avenue.
Example Image of Performing Arts Theater
Example Image of Performing Arts Theater
Example Image of Media Arts Classroom
PLAN LEGEND KEY
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed
Arts & Innovation Center Performing Arts Theater Arts & Innovation Center Studio Arts Building Arts & Innovation Center Dance Studios Arts & Innovation Center Theater Support Arts Plaza Turf Field and Structured Parking Arts Loading Dock Mechanical Building / Future Expansion Lower School Expansion
MAIN CAMPUS VIEW AXIS PROPERTY LINE PROPOSED BUILDING EXISTING BUILDING
Example Image of Student Art Gallery
Example Image of Student Dance Studio
P L A N N E D U S E S I T E L AY O U T
VIEW OF CAMPUS GREEN
AERIAL IMAGE OF PROPOSED AIC SITE
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
A R C H I T E C T U R A L N A R R AT I V E The core of the St Catherine’s campus is a formal green space, or lawn, around which most campus buildings are organized. The axial relationship of buildings on opposing sides of this formal green space is an important concept which has been used as an organizing element in the new AIC design. This important north-south axial relationship will be emphasized by the placement of the Performing Arts Center portion of the Arts and Innovation Center directly on the north south axis, directly opposite of Bacot Hall. Additionally, the tallest portion of the performing arts center, the fly tower, will occur directly on axis, and at the center of the campus, not at the perimeter, where height could be an issue to neighbors. The building is envisioned as a grouping of two major building masses, 1) the Studio Arts wing, which would consist of two stories along Maple Avenue, maintaining the building edge and character established by Kenney Athletic Center, and 2) the Performing Arts Center and Fly Tower, which would be positioned on axis with Bacot Hall, on the “Campus Green”. Connecting these 2 building forms would be a smaller “hyphen” building, which would house support functions for the theater, and dance rehearsal spaces. This grouping of the three buildings will form the perimeter of what we consider to be the heart of the project, the “Arts Courtyard”. The “Arts Courtyard” is envisioned as an outdoor gathering, exhibit, and small performance space which will function in a variety of ways involving all users of the facility in an interdisciplinary fashion. Pedestrian access to this courtyard space will occur from the “Campus Green”, from a drop-off along Maple Avenue, and from the area to the south adjacent to the parking structure. It is envisioned as the “crossroads” of the new facility The new St. Catherine’s Arts and Innovation Center will take its design cues from the existing campus context, which consists of buildings designed in a traditional red brick Georgian style, in keeping with long-standing Virginia architectural traditions. Transitions from interior to exterior spaces are handled with traditionally detailed porches or porticos. Materials utilized in the new construction will be selected based on their compatibility with existing campus buildings, and will include red brick, limestone or precast concrete, slate or standing seam metal roofing as appropriate. Landscaped courtyards will follow in the tradition of existing St Catherine’s outdoor gathering spaces and will include brick or bluestone paving, brick cheek walls with precast or limestone details. On the lowest elevation, and southernmost location on campus, we have proposed a partially below-grade parking structure for 240-270 cars with an artificial turf playing field on top. The parking structure will be clad in brick and precast on the sides where it emerges from grade. Access to the parking will occur on separate entry and exit roads off of Maple Avenue.
Aerial View of Campus
View of Bacot Hall Portico
Rendering of AIC Portico
View of Kenney Center Glazing
Rendering of AIC Walls Intended to be Glazed
V I E W O F P R O P O S E D A I C + PA R K I N G / F I E L D
V I E W O F P R O P O S E D A I C + PA R K I N G / F I E L D
Existing St. Catherine’s Building - Armfield Science Building
Existing St. Catherine’s Portico - Bocat Hall
Existing St. Catherine’s Glazing - Kenny Athletic Center
Existing St. Catherine’s Building Form - Washington Hall
PARKING & coverage
PA R K I N G N A R R AT I V E Adding more on-campus parking spaces is an important aspect of this Master Plan. More parking is needed on a daily basis to support the various programs the school offers, and many people find they must seek parking off-site around the campus. St. Catherine’s also knows that on-campus parking is an important issue for its neighbors and the provision of more on-campus parking will have a positive impact on the surrounding community. St. Catherine’s desires to address this need with the new parking structure shown in this Master Plan. The inclusion of this parking structure provides over two and a half times the number of spaces required by the City for the campus after completion of the redevelopment shown on this Master Plan.
Examples of brick cladded parking structures with playing fields on top.
PA R K I N G & B U I L D I N G C O V E R A G E P L A N
PLAN LEGEND EXISTING PARKING TO BE REMOVED PROPOSED PARKING STRUCTURE EXISTING PARKING TO REMAIN
TRAFFIC CIRCULATION
T R A F F I C C I R C U L AT I O N A N D A C C E S S St. Catherine’s campus is accessed by the public streets that bound the campus, including Cary Street, Grove Avenue, Maple Avenue and St. Catherine’s Lane. The main entrance is located on Grove Avenue (“Main Entrance”) and is accessed via Grove Avenue. Vehicles parking in the northeast parking lot (“MS Lot”) enter via Grove Avenue and depart via Maple Avenue. The existing theater parking lot (“Theater Lot”) is accessed via Maple Avenue. This Theater Lot will be replaced with the new parking structure, which will also be accessed via Maple Avenue, and a new drop-off and pick-up location will be added on Maple Avenue. The Lower School parking lot (“LS Lot”) is accessed via St. Catherine’s Lane. The additional parking areas behind Turner Hall are accessed via Grove Avenue and St. Catherine’s Lane. To minimize the impact of drop-off and pick-up traffic, St. Catherine’s has dispersed the drop-off and pick-up locations across the campus. The drop-off and pick-up location for the Upper School is at the Main Entrance on Grove Avenue. The Middle School’s drop-off and pick-up location is the MS Lot. The Lower School has two drop-off and pick-up locations. Grades Junior Kindergarten to 2 have drop-off and pick-up at the LS Lot, accessed via St. Catherine’s Lane. Grades 3 and 4 have drop-off and pick-up at the Theater Lot and under the Master Plan will have drop-off and pick-up at the new drop-off and pick-up location to be added on Maple Avenue.
PROPOSED ACCESS TO ARTS & INNOVATION CENTER: Maple Avenue and St. Catherine’s Lane are the two primary vehicular routes to access parking and drop-off at St. Catherine’s School. Between the two roads, Maple Avenue can maintain heavier traffic volume. In planning the expansion of the school, it is recommended that the entrance for the performing arts center be located along this road. Not only will it have more visible street frontage and presence for the school, but will be easier to access without creating significant traffic problems compared to the smaller St. Catherine’s Lane. In addition to an access point from Maple Avenue, a cooridor or pathway will be provided from the new parking structure to the lobby of the proposed AIC facility. Existing surface parking at St. Catherine’s School is kept primarily to the perimeter, which insulates the core of the campus from vehicular traffic and reinforces the pedestrian nature of the site. It is important to maintain that character in the design of the proposed expansion. Currently, the school has 175 parking spaces on surface parking lots. The resulting total number of spaces on campus will be 365 after the proposed parking deck and field structure is built.
OPEN SPACES
O P E N S PA C E N A R R AT I V E The campus at St. Catherine’s School has large formal open spaces for students and faculty and also contains unique opportunities for outdoor areas for new development. The existing campus green space will still be the central organizing element of the campus buildings but will now contain a transition to a new lower arts plaza. In addition to the plaza, the existing outdoor recreation space adjacent to the lower school will remain and a new lawn and field sports spectator seating area will now reside at the south end of the campus. Pedestrian paths are planned to access off of these open spaces.
O P E N S PA C E P L A N L E G E N D 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
EXISTING CAMPUS GREEN SPACE EXISTING SECONDARY LAWN SPACE NEW ARTS PLAZA NEW TURF FIELD/ COVERED PARKING SPECTATOR / TEAM AREA FOR NEW FIELD EXISTING LOWER SCHOOL PLAYGROUND EXISTING EXTERIOR TERRACE
MAIN CAMPUS VIEW AXIS PROPOSED PEDESTRIAN ACCESS PROPERTY LINE PROPOSED BUILDING
Dining Terrace at St. Catherine’s School
Campus Green at St. Catherine’s School
Front door at Bocat Hall
O P E N S PA C E S I T E P L A N
DROP OFF