Friends Central Lower School, Light Lab

At Friends’ Central Lower School in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, the Architects transformed an existing carriage house into 4 maker-space studios for Pre-School through Grade 5. The carriage house for the original estate – c. 1885 – was highly visible as a sentinel to the campus. Over the years had become an underperforming asset, and an eyesore.  Its complete adaptive re-use transformed this important historic structure into the Ulmer Family Light Lab with studios for natural sciences, fabrication, media/computing, and design.

 

The original building had been extensively altered: the school’s maintenance garage occupied the first level and was expanded into the center of the building with a poorly constructed roof covering much of the original architecture. Because very little interior historic material remained, the School opted for a complete removal of interior walls and finishes, taking the spaces down to their masonry bearing walls.

From this the Architects were able to add back a completely continuous thermal envelop and new second floor structure, and new, fully integrated mechanical, plumbing, electrical, sprinkler and fire alarm systems. It is essentially an all-new building inside. Part of their work included an investigation of the thermal dynamics of the wall construction to assure that the new work would not affect the long-term performance and viability of the original walls.

 

The mechanical engineer explored multiple options for energy systems including geothermal and ended up determining that the best system for this project would be mini-split heat pumps.

 

As part of a Lower Merion Township Historic District, the review board required restored windows on the sides visible to the public way. The balance of windows were new replacement windows, with color and details to complement the historic windows.  All other exterior work was performed to maximize the retention of historic materials.

 

After removing the later garage shed, the original u-shaped plan was recovered, creating a welcoming and multi-use outdoor courtyard.

 

The Architects transformed a convoluted existing mixed-use layout to clearly delineated studios in each of the wings – 2 up, 2 down. A centralized main entrance to the building creates a tightly nested core of elevator, stairs, bathrooms, and hallways, creating a wonderful mixing bowl of activity between classes. The glass storefront walls of the courtyard allow ample daylight into all of the studios. Blending in with a neutral uniform color, they stand out as a clear departure from the historic container, allowing for an undiluted reading of history.

Architecture or A/E Firm Name

Barba + Wheelock Architecture, Sustainability, Preservation

Architect

Cynthia Wheelock

Team

Linda Brailey - Project Architect, Tim Morrison - Intern Architect

Consultants

Bevan Lawson, PE., Ripcord Engineering, Polaris Consulting Engineers, PC, Crowell Design, Site Engineering Concepts

Location

228 Old Gulf Road Wynnewood, PA 19096

Client

Friends Central Lower School

General Contractor

E. Allen Reeves, Inc

Photos