NCSSM sheds more light on expansion plans

The North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham is on the verge of growing, with a $70 million state-funded expansion expected to allow today's enrollment of 600 students to grow by one-third. As we talked about here in November, the school has engaged in a campus master planning process to determine just how and where NCSSM should grow on the site of the former Watts Hospital.

Consultants from the firm Ayers Saint Gross presented thoughts to neighbors earlier this month on the campus planning process and the plans for the 230,000 sq. ft. Discovery Center. Within eight months, work is expected to begin on infrastructure and utilities construction to support the project; meanwhile, NCSSM is selecting an architect for design of the structures.

The architects will inherit a plan calling for the Discovery Center to be massed near the center of campus, infilling next to the Bryan Center and helping to close off a driveway that currently bisects the campus. These images show an earlier version of the plan, a more final version of which is expected to be available in August, but give a sense of the school's preliminary thinking. New building locations/massings are shown in blue:

Or, with purposes and names below:

The "Bryan North" addition would add significant new classroom, administration and dining space, with the surrounding walkways and passageways helping to better define a quadrangle feel to the school. The Reynolds addition at the bottom of the images adds new residential dorms in the design spirit of the old hospital wards, while the buildings flanking the Hill Bldg. add new dormitory space.

The two buildings proposed for the east and west sides of Hunt Hall (both of which are visible only in the top of the images) are proposed for future expansion after the completion of the current expansion phase.

One big question for the renowned residential magnet high school: where to grow once this phase of expansion is done. One finding of the master planners is that the campus is nearing its maximum size on its current site. The zones in red at the image at right are those felt to be most likely sites for expansion; as the images above show, most of the "ideal" sites will be filled in under the current master plan. The orange zones -- fronting Broad St. and W. Club Blvd. (on the site of current surface parking) -- are possible locations for expansion, but are seen as being somewhat less suitable.

Some trustees have raised the logical direction for growth: east, across Broad St., suggesting that it might make sense to begin acquiring properties in that commercial and residential area. NCSSM's Chancellor Gerald Boarmannoted that that approach would be examined when the campus does its next master plan, likely five to six years away.

Among some of the school's proposals for the current round of growth:

• With the campus driveway off the Broad St. traffic circle closed off by expansion, NCSSM may consider transforming the circle drive into a campus amphitheater;
• The changes may include large trees along Broad St. just north of Club, and replacing part of the parking lot housing 46 spaces at Club/Broad with a stormwater retention pond featuring wetland plants;
• Though most buildings would have terra cotta roofs to match the existing look-and-feel of the campus, some might get the now-popular "green roof" approach to sustainability;
• The large John Friederick Educational Technology Center along Maryland Ave. may be covered with vines to cut down its visual impact on the neighborhood.

Comments

[Valerie]

Wow, these are big changes. The campus already seems so different and I can't imagine 800 kids on the campus. 800! It would be impossible to know everyone at that size.

But it's exciting at the same time to think the school will be able to serve many more students. Much of the technology and many services are open to non-NCSSM students and teachers across North Carolina via distance learning and summer programs. I hope the expansion will also expand these services.

[Michael Bacon]

I'm not of the illusion that the places you remember from your youth should remain forever unchanged so that your memory can be pure, and I think a lot of these changes are good ones, but the one that rankles most to me is the "Hill East" addition, which would sit right in the middle of the quad that was formed by the two sides of Hill, Hunt, and what used to be called Wyche but is now Royall. I don't see anywhere in the the new design that has the same large but bounded open space.

Educational campuses should have big quads. It's a shame NCSSM is losing its best one, and not really replacing it. (Although I suppose the area behind Reynolds has potential -- it was pretty incongruous and lacked character when I was there.)

[Valerie]

Michael, for even more perspective, that "quad" was at one time not a destination. It was just a path to New Dorm, which still hadn't gained an identity, all gawky and huge Way Over There. One person's quad is another's construction zone. :)

[Michael Bacon]

Yeah, I realize that -- but the fundamental aspect of a quad is some degree of enclosure on all sides. The new one that it looks like they're forming, while I love the addition of what looks like a colonnade or breezeway around it, just doesn't look as nice and big.

I also noticed with some sadness upon a second look that the bike shelter I helped build some 15 years ago (!) looks to be going under the bulldozer. Well, at least it will get rid of that ridiculous concrete sundial that's such an awful excuse for outdoor art at the same time.

And there's something up against the Frederick Center named the "Black Box." Do I dare hope that it's an honest-to-God experimental theater space for students?

[Phil]

Well gee, should I be surprised that Kevin's first commenters are all S&M alumni? (As a member of the 4th graduating class (which got to see the gnomon built), I'm the oldest so far!)

It's worth mentioning that I think there's more greenery on campus now than when the school opened. A large part of the athletic fields on the northeast corner used to be a large parking lot (which a tennis ball would rapidly roll across if you hit errantly from the court that is where Hunt Hall now stands). The campus had a biology pond for a little while in the mid-80s, northish of where Hunt Hall is now. In the school's first decade, Michael's quad was a dusty bit of lawn, bounded on the west by a very ratty bike shed and the swimming pool.

Not that a building can replace a quadrangle, but if the school invested in green roofs that people could actually hang out on, that would be really cool. Imagine green walkways connecting green roofs on multiple buildings: from the air, the school would look like one big lawn. I'd love to see that. I doubt I will, but I'd love to.

I'm almost surprised I haven't heard anything about NCSSM and leading environmental practices, or even about an environmental design club at NCSSM. Folks in Durham may have seen Duke University's Smart Home across from the Center for Jewish Life. I think that NCSSM ought have enough brain/labor/enthusiasm-power to do some similar projects, if the leadership is there.

Speaking of other historical whatsits that Valerie alluded to: distance learning and campus expansion were discussed earnestly in the early 80s, as the school tried to figure out how best to integrate the simultaneous desires for (a) broader educational service to North Carolina and (b) intensive educational service to the ~450 students on campus. As North Carolina grows, I wonder if there'll come a time that the state decides it needs two residential S&M campuses, instead of continuing to expand the one.

(Of note: Yale has recently decided to increase its undergrad population by 15%, to 6,000. The national undergrad population is hitting a near-term peak, which is why college admissions in the last two years have been awfully hard.)

[Steve]

Sorry, Phil, you're just a newcomer -- '83 here. To answer Michael's question, yes, that is a black box theater. The number I heard was more than 900, not 800, for expansion.

What's more interesting is the plans to greatly expand the NCSSM brand by offering a full plate of online classes so that students could get online degrees -- even having them come to campus when the residential campus is on extended. See http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/story/1096976.html.

[Valerie]

It's another Bull reference blog. :) Good one, Steve!

[Daniel Schudel ('92)]

Is that first image a Google 3D model of the campus? The aerial photo in the background matches the latest imagery in Google Earth/Maps. If so, it would be very interesting if it were made publicly available.

[Jim McManus]

This plan is very impressive and it is great the NCSSM is growing. However, I have to say I strongly disagree with where they are putting the Reynolds addition. The grove of oak trees in that location are one of the main visual features of the campus. They provide depth to the front view of the campus, creating a very powerful and symbolic image. That depth will be lost if a building is put there. They should be trying to strengthen the visual connection between the grove of trees on the corner of Club and Maryland and the ones facing Broad Street. The corner of Club Blvd and Broad Street offers a wonderful wide-angle view that increases the scale of the campus. Putting the Reynolds addition in the grove of trees will break that wide-angle view.

Jim

[David Theil '84]

Wowsers. And we thought going beyond 360 was a big change! Well, they always talked about bringing in a 10th grade class back in th' day. I hope that is what they are doing now, rather than hosting 2 classes of 450 each. The experience will be diluted as it becomes more of a diploma mill and less of an intimate experience where each faculty knew something about most of the students.

[supra vaider]

I also follow through Google Reader!