The Placework team celebrated at the annual AIA New Hampshire awards gala on September 25th. Our latest project at Saint Anselm College, the Greggory J. Grappone Humanities Institute, was recognized with a Merit Award: the Rick & Duffy Monahon Award for Design Excellence in Architectural Restoration and Preservation.

We were joined for the ceremony by Humanities Institute Director Gary Bouchard and donor Bob Grappone. It was great to hear how, two years after first opening, the building has become an active hub of campus life.

The project is an excellent example of how adaptive reuse can transform under-utilized historic assets into vibrant places. The former campus heating plant is now a flexible classroom and gathering space. The design maintains the historic exterior, including the iconic smoke stack, while taking advantage of the original coal chute to capture light for the lower level.

The video below tells the story of the building and its transformation. It was produced by the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance when the project won a Preservation Achievement Award last year.