Kent Place Center for Innovation
Inspiration At Every Turn
Kent Place School is an independent, non-sectarian, girl’s day school located in Summit, New Jersey, serving 600 students in kindergarten through grade 12.
The new Center for Innovation is a showcase of the school’s long-range master plan. A curriculum vision that interweaves an interdisciplinary approach with the “maker” qualities integral to a project-based learning model is prevalent throughout the building. It enables Kent Place to enhance its offerings in science, math, and art-based studies to challenge and move beyond 21st-century models for learning.
The Center for Innovation, which provides a new “front door” to the campus, features the Innovation Lab, which is strategically located to greet all members of the Kent Place community and promote the school’s mission-related imperatives of interdisciplinary learning, collaboration, and mentoring. The abundant use of window glazing results in a “see-and-be-seen” environment, communicating the values of transparency and information sharing. The larger, more flexible, energetic spaces support the introduction of an interdisciplinary STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) curriculum. Also on the ground floor are the Upper School art studios, a robotics area, a professional art gallery, meeting spaces, and the technology hub.
Client: Kent Place School
Location: Summit, New Jersey
Size: 32,200 SF
Completion date: 2017
Project Type: New Construction
The centerpiece of the second level is the reimagining of the school’s main library. Predominantly a community space, this area facilitates small- and large-group collaboration and access to media-sharing technology, and presents a spectacular view across the quad to the historic Mabie House. The second floor contains “quiet zones,” along with the math center, math classrooms, labs, the middle school art studio, and group project-based learning areas. In the corridors are a variety of felt-lined nooks and touch-down spaces with seating, ideal for small gatherings of students.
The interior design integrates the qualities of a studio-gallery approach with a modern and crisp aesthetic — a significant use of white and pops of color evokes the feel of an exhibition space as it displays the creativity of student work.
“The new Center achieved LEED-Silver equivalent status while making a permanent home for the School’s most innovative interdisciplinary project-based learning studios and instruction spaces. Underpinned by STEAM curriculum driven initiatives, the new Center for Innovation will be an engine of inquiry, critical thinking and experimentation.”
