Woodman Community and Performance Center
Walter Jones Library archive storage and research facility
The Woodman Community and Performance Center
Providence, RI – The Moses Brown School community recently debuted its transformative 36,000sf Woodman Family Community and Performance Center, which is connected to the Walter Jones Library at the center of the school’s 33-acre campus. Shawmut Design and Construction completed the project, one of the largest in the school’s 232-year history, in 18 months.
Designed by Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects, the multi-use facility features a main hall capable of holding 540 people for musical theater performances, exhibitions, workshops, and many other school and community activities. The center also includes a café, circulation space, classrooms, theater support space, and an outdoor gathering space. It will also house the campus’ new central heating plant in the basement.
The community center is defined by a NIVOflex platform system and telescoping seating, which provides the school with ultimate flexibility for event hosting. The telescoping seating can be retracted and the NIVOflex flooring be made level with the rest of the floor to provide a larger flat floor for functions, and it also can be fully recessed for an orchestra pit or event at multiple levels to provide additional seating.
The existing Walter Jones Library was also part of the recent renovation, adding a learning and resource center and an archive storage and research facility to house 230 years’ worth of artifacts, books, documents, and photos collected by the school.
The building is designed with many green elements, including low-flow plumbing fixtures, LED lighting, high-efficiency hot water heaters and boilers, solar shades, daylight harvesting systems, enhanced lighting controls, stormwater runoff mitigation (bio swale), infrastructure for future solar panels, and envelope performance that goes above and beyond code requirements.
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“We truly enjoyed working with Moses Brown on a complex and innovative new gathering space,” said Ron Simoneau, vice president of Shawmut Design and Construction. “We agree the facility will be transformative for Moses Brown’s campus and Providence community.”
“It is our hope that the Woodman Center will be utilized by a variety of community organizations,” said Moses Brown Head of School Matt Glendinning. “We see this as part of our role as a member of the Providence community, to promote the intellectual, artistic, and civic vitality that has always been a strength at our school.”
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