Willmantic, CT – The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM), in association with William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc., have been selected by the State of Connecticut’s Department of Public Works as architects for the new Fine Arts Instructional Center on the campus of Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Connecticut. This 136,811 square-foot facility will consolidate the visual arts and performing arts programs into a single, distinctive new building and will celebrate the arts in the University’s everyday life. The Fine Arts Instructional Center is to include space for public gatherings, display of student and travelling art programs as well as three state-of-the-art performance spaces: a 1100-seat auditorium, a 350-seat proscenium theatre and a 150-seat “black box” theatre. Additionally, it will house support and office spaces, art studios, galleries, computer labs, music instruction/practice rooms, multi-purpose instruction space and a 135-seat Lecture Hall. This new campus landmark will be designed to the standards of High Performance Building requirements. SLAM is also the architect of Eastern Connecticut State University’s award-winning Science and Classroom Building, completed by the firm in 2008.
For the new Fine Arts Instructional Center, The S/L/A/M Collaborative will be providing project documentation and management, academic planning/programming, building information modeling (BIM), campus planning and landscape architecture, and code analysis. William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc. will lead the design, guiding the client and design team throughout all stages and bringing deep expertise in arts centers.
SLAM is cited among the nation’s Top Design Firms as ranked by Architectural Record, Engineering News-Record, Building Design + Construction, and the American Institute of Architects’ Architect magazine. In addition to the firm’s Connecticut headquarters, SLAM office locations include Boston, Atlanta, and Syracuse. Since its founding in 1976, SLAM has actualized a unique role in the industry as an “inquiry-based practice”, focusing on outcomes-driven environments of excellence for higher education, healthcare, and research.
William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc. of Boston is America’s leading “Architects for the Arts.” Having designed over 24,000 seats for the performing arts, the firm brings expertise in the design of both quality performance spaces and rigorous teaching and rehearsal spaces for a broad range of top institutions. This work includes the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams College, the Music Center at Strathmore College, Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, Studzinski Recital Hall at Bowdoin College, and a new Arts Precinct for Music, Theatre, Dance, Studio Arts and Arts Library at The University of Virginia. In 2009, William Rawn Associates was ranked #1 on Architect magazine’s list of the nation’s Top 50 architecture firms. Over the past twenty years, the firm has earned over 125 regional and state design awards as well as significant professional acclaim.
Within the Connecticut State University System, Eastern Connecticut State University is the state’s designated public liberal arts college. As a predominantly undergraduate institution, Eastern attracts and welcomes a diverse community of learners, supported by a teaching faculty, staff, administrators, and a residential campus, all of which promote intellectual curiosity, integrity, and social responsibility. Eastern’s commitment to a liberal arts education is exemplified in its liberal arts core curriculum, a sequenced, interdisciplinary program that all students share, independent of their majors and career aspirations. In its role as a public university, Eastern develops students who can become productive, engaged community leaders. Eastern also serves as a social, cultural, and economic catalyst for the region and the State of Connecticut.