Centerbrook Architects and Planners

The metal panels at the Whittingham Discovery Center feature a biophilic pattern that evolved to be a central design element. They cast dramatic shadows inside and relate to the park with a color reminiscent of tree trunks. https://lnkd.in/ehubNJxC

The Whittingham Discovery Center in Stamford's Mill River Park has received a LEED Platinum certification – the highest level attainable – for its advanced sustainable systems and connections to nature: https://lnkd.in/gnY5GM6q

Centerbrook’s Front Office is the axle around which our firm rotates. If you enjoy varied tasks, an energetic environment, and camaraderie with your colleagues, please consider applying for this part-time position: https://lnkd.in/gRz-RJTj

Robyn may be singular in the field of finance. She knows the first nine digits of Pi and threw a 1-kilogram discus more than 140 feet. Welcome to Centerbrook, Robyn Krafft! https://lnkd.in/gPuzB8hd

What a great week at Greenbuild International Conference & Expo reconnecting with so many fellow green building nerds. Enjoyed this opportunity to host an interactive session with the wonderful Laura Cole and Erin Miller Hamilton, Ph.D. on green building signage and share some of our work on green building education at Centerbrook Architects and Planners.

Congratulations to Lesley University on the ribbon cutting for Reed and Burnham Halls! We are proud to contribute, with our many partners, to their renaissance.

For more than a century, New Canaan’s public library has been a centerpiece of the bucolic—and affluent—western Connecticut town. Originally built in 1913, the library building was bordered by downtown’s Main and Cherry Streets and saw three major expansions, the last of which was in 1979. Called to respond to the changing needs of New Canaan and the modern media landscape, in which some physical books can be replaced by digital assets and make way for other forms of programming, the library undertook a major fundraising campaign to construct an entirely new building on the same site.⁠ “What we were hoping for was a community hub, a place for gathering and social interaction, and stretching people’s definitions of what libraries are,” says Ellen Crovatto, CEO of New Canaan Library. She adds that libraries have moved away from being places where people are shushed for talking, to spaces that are “active and loud and communal.”⁠ When the library approached Connecticut-based Centerbrook Architects and Planners to design its new building more than a decade ago, principal-in-charge Jim Childress came to the project having worked on several libraries. The New Canaan project further revealed his lifelong affection for these institutions—Crovatto describes Childress as a “professional library tourist.” (He is also an avid volunteer at his local branch in the town of Essex.) “That sensibility permeates the thoughtfulness and intent behind every decision that was made here in the design,” says Crovatto. “He has a world view, an interest in what is happening in Scandinavia, Amsterdam, Japan, and South America.” ⁠ Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gWWFXRRD Words by Jennifer Krichels Photos Jeff Goldberg/Esto

Thank you to AIA Connecticut for recognizing four Centerbrook projects with 2024 design awards, and congratulations to our clients and partners! https://lnkd.in/eiNnHFnJ

When you are a Principal who has been at Centerbrook for 50 years, we pull out all the stops to recognize the milestone. Mark Simon loves ice cream, and he makes it himself, once even concocting a recipe attributed to Thomas Jefferson for an interview at the University of Virginia. So, what better way to celebrate than an ice cream party with 50 topping choices? Mark was totally surprised and, if you must know, went back for seconds!

Ridley College recently celebrated the grand opening of two reimagined spaces. Centered around a pedestrian quadrangle, the two become one to create a vibrant new campus center for the Ridley community: https://lnkd.in/eVQmmNuB