CAMPUS MASTER PLAN

Goals

To provide the up-to-date facilities that will enhance the quality of student life

To redesign the campus so it reflects the excellence of the education provided

To become a more appealing destination for our neighbors through the creation of attractive streetscapes, accessible performance venues, and public dining facilities

To share what we do with the community through greater transparency of our buildings

To comfortably house more of the existing student population on campus

Forming the PlanIn recent years, the Conservatory has invested in:

a stellar faculty increased scholarship support for our students cutting edge programs and renovation of our historic buildings

It is now time to focus on our campus – a mandate not only of our 2008 Strategic Plan but also the professional associations that grant us accreditation.

Forming the Plan

On these pages, we will document our progress as we move forward with this eagerly anticipated project.

The resulting plan set forth an ambitious program that has been the foundation of the conceptual design rendered with great imagination by our architects, Ann Beha Architects.

In January 2012, NEC submitted an Institutional Master Plan Notification form/Project Notification Form to the City of Boston through which it seeks approval for construction.

To begin, NEC engaged in an extensive Master Planning process involving all constituencies of the Conservatory family and predicated on the need to work within and optimize the existing footprint of real estate owned by the Conservatory: the four buildings and parking lot surrounding the intersection of Huntington Avenue and Gainsborough Street.

Project Overview

We are improving the facilities and lives of the student and teaching population of NEC, reflecting the vitality of our institution and of music.

It will include a new state-of-the-art library, where our collections will have a safe and accessible home and research can be done with all the benefits of interactive technology.

The Center will place a College student residence atop a student life complex.The new Student Life and Performance Center

will provide students and faculty with state-of-the-art facilities commensurate with our standing as a world-class school of music and performance center, and accommodate the needs for rehearsal, lesson, practice, and classroom space of our nonresident students participating in Preparatory and Continuing Education programs.

The Center will house a black box theatre with backstage and dressing rooms, an orchestra rehearsal room, and large ensemble room.

The student residence will have 252 student beds, a dining hall, and a commons area.

Project Sketches

If you think you know the New England Conservatory campus,

All sketches created by Ann Beha Architects

be prepared to reorient your visionThe Student Life and

Performance Center will take advantage of what is currently a visual “dead spot” in our landscape: the northeast angle of the St. Botolph-Gainsborough intersection that currently consists of the blank end of the residence hall and the parking lot entrance.

Project Sketches: St. Botolph, East

All sketches created by Ann Beha Architects

This sketch shows the Student Life and Performance Center from the standpoint of a person standing on St. Botolph Street at the corner of Gainsborough and facing east. The edge of NEC’s existing Botolph building is visible at the right of this sketch.

The entrance in the center of the sketch leads to amenities including the Black Box Theatre, publicly accessible dining area, and library. The windowed corner above the entrance makes the orchestra rehearsal space visible from the street.

Currently, a person standing on this spot would be looking at NEC’s parking lot and the backs of the Huntington Avenue buildings.

Project Sketches: St. Botolph, West

All sketches created by Ann Beha Architects

This sketch shows, right-to-left, NEC’s existing Botolph building as it connects to the Student Life and Performance Center, from the standpoint of a person standing on St. Botolph Street at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and facing west.

At the center of the sketch is the “prow” of the SLPC – the projecting, windowed corner at the second-floor level that makes the orchestra rehearsal space visible from the street. Also visible are improvements to the landscaping of NEC’s side of St. Botolph Street.Currently, a person standing on this spot would be looking towards the southeast corner of the Jordan Hall building, framed by the fence surrounding NEC’s parking lot and the windowless edge of the old residence hall.

Project Sketches: Floors 1 - 4

All sketches created by Ann Beha Architects

Floor 4 is a continuation of the Library Resource Center.

Floor 3 contains the Library Resource Center, Performance Commons, and orchestral rehearsal space.Floor 2 (at street level) contains additional dining area, entryway, and reception lobby.Floor 1 (below street level) contains the Dining Commons and Black Box theatre.

Together, these four floors represent the publicly accessible component of the SLPC, with dining, performance, and library amenities that will be open to the public as well as to NEC students, faculty, and staff.

This cutaway sectional drawing shows the lower four floors of the Student Life and Performance Center, from the standpoint of a person facing the building on St. Botolph Street.

Project Sketches: Dining Commons

All sketches created by Ann Beha Architects

This sketch shows the Student Life and Performance Center from the standpoint of a person who is inside the street-level Dining Commons and facing out onto St. Botolph Street.

Part of the SLPC’s publicly accessible amenities, the Dining Commons also includes a performance platform visible at the far end of this sketch.NEC’s parking lot currently occupies this spot.

Project Sketches: Library Resource Center 1

All sketches created by Ann Beha Architects

The Library Resource Center is part of the SLPC’s publicly accessible amenities.(NEC’s parking lot currently occupies this spot.)

This sketch shows the Student Life and Performance Center from the standpoint of a person who is inside the lower level of the Library Resource Center and facing out onto St. Botolph Street.

Project Sketches: Phase II

All sketches created by Ann Beha Architects

This sketch shows the proposed Phase II of the Student Life and Performance Center from the standpoint of a person standing on Huntington Avenue at the corner of Gainsborough and facing south. NEC’s historic Jordan Hall building is visible at the right of this sketch. At the left is the building currently occupied by Uno’s restaurant.

Amenities visible in this sketch include a street-level cafe and rehearsal/performance spaces in the upper floors.Currently, a person standing on this spot would be looking at the windowless wall of NEC’s Spaulding Library and the upper floors of the residence hall.