Germantown Friends School intended the Hargroves Center to be a hub for every student on campus and provide much needed lounge/meeting spaces, a snack bar, and math and computer classrooms that incorporated technology for interactive instruction. In planning for the project, VMA sought a design that would integrate with the existing campus aesthetic while creating an exciting and student-friendly interior.

In constructing the Center, the project introduced a new facade on Germantown Avenue, a main commercial artery for the surrounding neighborhood. In doing so, this reinforced the presence of the school in the community and its urban fabric. Together with the school’s Sharpless Building, the center, which also included a new terrace and parking lot,  defines the corner of Germantown Avenue and Coulter Street as the gateway to campus. In the spirit of Quaker simplicity, we chose to use the stained and waxed structural slab as the finished floor. Because of its relative distance to campus, the design emphasizes the diagonal view back to the main campus. The main window in the stair, the windows in the snack bar, and one classroom all face that direction as well. The steeply-pitched gable roof evokes the historic Meeting House, which is the school’s structural centerpiece. As such, the overall aesthetic is institutional but welcoming and in keeping with the school’s Quaker origins.

Interior Design completed in association with Executive Interiors