本宁顿学院 Commons 大楼改造 · 现代学术生活中心

这是一个改造项目。建筑事务所Christoff:Finio Architecture将本宁顿学院（Bennington College）的Commons教学楼改造为了一个现代的学术和学生生活中心。这座深受大家喜爱的大楼位于校园的中心地带，建于1932年，随着时间的推移逐渐显现出陈旧的姿态。实际上，本次改造是该大楼建成后的首次重大更新升级。改造工程不仅丰富了Commons大楼的学院派特色和美学意义，更使其具备了能够满足未来几十年内大学社区对功能空间的需求的能力。

For the renovation of Bennington College’s Commons building, originally built in 1932, Christoff:Finio Architecture (C:FA) transformed the campus’s beloved but dated centerpiece into a contemporary hub for academic and student life. The first substantial upgrade to the building since the 1930s, the renovation reinforces Commons’ Beaux-Arts character while updating it to meet the performance and programmatic needs of the college community for decades to come.

▼大楼南立面外观，the south view of the building ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

为此，设计团队保留了大楼原有的历史悠久的南立面，并在北立面上增加了一个全新的现代风格的入口空间。与此同时，在建筑内部设置廊道，以期将各个方向的校园空间联系起来。大楼内新增设了16间在线课堂教室，餐厅的面积被扩大至原先的2倍。最为重要的是，上述所有的改造措施都没有对大楼原有的占地面积造成任何影响。

To achieve this, the renovation maintains the historic southern facade, adds a contemporary new entryway on the northern facade, cuts a pedestrian pathway through the building to connect the halves of campus it stands between, brings 16 new classrooms online, and doubles dining capacity—all without expanding the building’s footprint.

▼大楼东北角外观，the exterior view of the northeast corner of the building ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

从历史上看，作为一个社交和学术生活中心，Commons大楼是本宁顿这座小型文理学院中唯一一座将社交空间、学习休息空间和教室空间等融为一体的建筑，为学校师生们提供了一个学习和生活的中心场所。同时，Commons大楼中还容纳着本宁顿学院唯一的一个餐厅。因此，无论是早饭、午饭还是晚饭时间，这里永远都是人头攒动的。然而，随着本宁顿学院的扩招，这个餐厅已经不再能完全满足学生们的用餐需求了。

Historically the core of both social and academic life at the small liberal arts college, Commons remains the only building at Bennington that combines social areas, study lounges, and classroom space into a single center for learning and student life. As the only place on campus that serves meals, the entire college community—from students to faculty and administrators—convenes at Commons throughout the day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But, as Bennington College expanded, Commons could no longer adequately serve the growing student body.

▼改造后的餐厅空间，采用木格栅式的吊顶，the cafeteria after renovation, with the ceiling made of wood strips ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼改造后的餐厅空间，是原面积的2倍，the cafeteria after renovation, with double dining capacity ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼餐厅吧台，the bar area of the cafeteria ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

此次改造重塑了Commons大楼作为校园中心空间的身份象征，并通过引入12,000平方英尺的曾因建筑法规限制而闲置了数十年的联机空间，极大地提高了建筑的功能属性。通过在大楼中使用全新的机械系统、增设新电梯和无障碍通道，设计团队打造出一个符合规范的综合性教育空间。16个全新的教室和Peer Learning实验室配合着原有的教育空间，不仅创造出一个独具特色的、跨学科的校园中心环境，还为学生们提供了自习、点对点交流和小组协作的场所。

The renovation restores Commons to its historic role as a campus hub, drastically enhancing programming by bringing 12,000 square feet of space online that had sat unused for decades because of building code restrictions. By implementing a new mechanical system and adding new elevators and accessible entryways, C:FA brought this space up to code and used it to introduce 16 new classrooms and the Peer Learning Lab. This signature cross-disciplinary center supports peer-to-peer instruction, group collaboration, and individual study.

▼报告厅，the lecture hall ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼教室及其走廊，the classrooms and their corridor ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼中等规模的教室，the interior view of the medium-sized classroom ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼小型教室，the small classroom ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

在此次改造中，设计团队还在大楼内增设了一系列公共集散空间，其中包括了一间书店、一个咖啡厅兼面包房、以及数个休息室空间等。这些空间结合新的教室和扩建后的餐厅，大大地提高了大楼的空间占有率，从而不仅将Commons变成了一个充满活力的校园中心，更为学生和教职人员提供了聚会、学习、用餐和社交的空间。

The renovation also adds gathering spaces throughout the building, including a new bookstore, a cafe and bakery, and several lounges. These spaces, combined with new classrooms and an enlarged dining facility that increases capacity from 450 to 1000, remakes Commons into a vibrant campus center where students and faculty gather to convene, study, eat, and socialize.

▼室内休息区，the interior lounge area ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼室内休息区局部，partial view of the interior lounge area ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼大楼内的学术休息讨论空间，the academic lounge inside the building ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

此外，设计团队还在大楼内开辟了一条新走廊。这条走廊将大楼两侧的校园连接了起来，形成了一个完整的景观环境。其实，在1932年的校园规划中，Commons大楼是作为整个校园的南侧边界存在的，其原有的南立面朝向大草坪，较小的北附属楼也仅作为后勤部门的服务入口。但随着校园逐渐向北侧扩张，Commons大楼的地理位置开始与原始的规划背道而驰，逐渐成为了本宁顿学院的中心。然而问题随之而来。大楼原有的小型服务入口在景观环境中显得格外突兀；同时鉴于设计者从未考虑过Commons可能会变成校园的枢纽，其内复杂的交通空间也阻碍了穿梭于整个校园的人流。

在本项目中，设计团队将Commons改造成了连接校园空间的通道，在四个主要朝向上建立了室内外环境之间的联系，从而完美地解决了上述的历史遗留问题。大楼后侧的备餐空间被改造成了公共的开放式厨房，打开了大楼通向东南西北四个方向的外部校园环境的通道。大楼北侧有一个加建的玻璃入口体量。该入口空间双层通高，如同灯塔一般将来访者引入大楼的中心空间。入口的内部区域以现代的设计语言重新诠释了大楼原始的学院派几何形式和美学意义，不仅致敬了历史，更赋予了建筑独特的造型。

▼入口空间，以现代的设计语言重新诠释了大楼原始的学院派几何形式和美学意义，the entryway reinterprets the building’s original Beaux-Arts geometries in a contemporary architectural language ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

Further, C:FA cut a new pathway through the building, linking the two halves of campus it stands between into a single cohesive landscape. In the original 1932 campus plan, Commons defined what was then the College’s northern edge. Flanked by colonial houses, Commons’ monumental southern facade anchored the Great Lawn, while the smaller north wing was initially used only as a service entry for back-of-house operations. But as the college expanded northwards, Commons became the geographic center of campus—a condition at odds with its original design as a bookend building. The small back-of-house entry now featured prominently in the Bennington landscape, and the building—never meant to be transversed from north to south—had convoluted interior pathways that impeded pedestrian circulation between the campus’s two halves.

The renovation resolves this, remaking Commons as a gateway that joins the two halves of campus and establishes connections between the interior life of the building and the surrounding landscape in all four cardinal directions. By adapting the back-of-house food preparation spaces into front-of-house open kitchens, C:FA opened up central north/south and east/west passages through the building. A new double-height glazed entry on the north side acts as a beacon that ushers visitors into the central spine. The design of the entryway reinterprets the building’s original Beaux-Arts geometries in a contemporary architectural language, paying homage to the building’s heritage while lending it a distinctive new presence.

▼大楼北侧加建的玻璃入口体量夜景，night view the north facade glazed extension ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼大楼三层空间夜景，night view of the third floor ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

在整个改造过程中，设计团队还对大楼内原有的机械系统进行了升级，同时引入了21世纪的可持续措施，致力于在最大限度地提高能源效率的同时，为将来设置地热系统做好准备。在改造之前，Commons大楼内部并未设置任何制冷系统。改造工程不仅引入了这些系统，同时还通过改善建筑的外围护结构，增设了两个大型的全热交换器。这两个全热交换器有助于一般采暖系统无缝向地热能源过渡。而可持续的设计措施则包括了在单个水回路上设置热泵以实现各空间的能源共享、以及在通用浴室中使用低耗水量的洗浴设施等。

Throughout, C:FA also upgraded the mechanical systems and introduced 21st-century sustainability measures to maximize energy efficiency and prepare the building to transition to geothermal energy sources. Before the renovation, there had been no cooling capacity in the building. The renovation introduces these systems, improving the building envelope to allow two large energy recovery ventilators to be used. These ventilators—which currently run off the campus’s biomass steam plant—are configured to transition seamlessly to geothermal energy sources. Further sustainability measures include heat pumps on a single water loop that allow energy to be shared throughout the building, and low flow fixtures in the gender-neutral bathrooms.

▼大楼夜景，night view of the building ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼总平面图，在四个主要朝向上建立了室内外环境之间的联系，site plan, establishing connections between the interior life of the building and the surrounding landscape in all four cardinal directions ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼一层平面图，1F plan ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼二层平面图，2F plan ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼三层平面图，3F plan ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼纵向剖面图，longitudinal section ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

▼纵向剖透视，longitudinal perspective section ©Christoff: Finio Architecture

Partners in charge – Taryn Christoff, Martin Finio Project Managers – Caleb Linville, Dan Hemmendinger Project team – Kathy Kao, Kat Ballo, Meredith Strickland, Connie Chung, Anne Herndon Photography – Scott Frances Photography Courtesy – C:FA (Christoff: Finio Architecture)

Consultants MEP: LN Consulting Code Consultant: Centerline Architects Foodservice Consultant: Corsi Associates Structural Engineer: Hage Engineering Lighting Design: One Lux Studio Landscape Architect: Reed Hilderbrand Civil Engineer: Otter Creek Engineering Envelope: James R. Gainfort AIA Consulting Architects AV/ Acoustics: Acoustic Distinctions Specifications: Construction Specifications, Inc. Cost Estimating: Ellana, Inc.

Construction General Contractor: PC Construction   Commissioning: Cx Associates