The Auburn Police Activities League (PAL) was established by the city’s police force in 2013 after a department analysis found that many crimes by and against young people occurred within an area of less than half a square mile in Auburn, Maine. The department launched the league to provide positive, horizon-broadening experiences for at-risk youth…. Read more »
Project Category: Educational
Unity Environmental University – New Gloucester
Unity Environmental University approached Simons Architects about a design for their new Technical Institute for Environmental Professions at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine. The scope of the work included academic and administrative office spaces, nine classrooms, a technical shop lab, and a sterile biology/chemistry teaching lab. Heavy emphasis was placed on hybrid learning, and… Read more »
Waynflete Lower School
The new 30,000 SF Waynflete Lower School building replaces an outdated white brick addition built in 1968. Undersized and overused, the former school building was a confusing, multi-level conglomeration of several buildings and additions that tended to separate and isolate the school’s four learning age groups. The new building is designed to integrate the four… Read more »
Bigelow Laboratory: Graham Shimmield Residence Hall
Located on a steep hillside above the Damariscotta River in mid-coast Maine, the Shimmield Residence Hall supports the ocean science laboratory’s educational mission by providing living facilities for college students and visiting scientists. The hall features 32 student beds arranged in quads, three studio apartments and one two-bedroom apartment for visiting scientists. The building fosters… Read more »
Ecology School: Dining Commons
Established in 1998, The Ecology School is an innovative environmental education program for young people. After leasing space at Ferry Beach for a number of years, the School purchased Riverbend Farm in Saco, a 105-acre organic farm, with diverse ecosystems in order to expand the depth and breadth of its programs. Hiring three Portland architecture… Read more »
University of Maine: ASCC GEM Addition- Conceptual Study
Completed in 2021, the study to build a 90,000 SF addition to the Advanced Structures & Composites Center (ASCC) is an interdisciplinary center for research, education, and economic development encompassing material sciences, advanced manufacturing, and engineering of composites and structures. Simons Architects and Thornton Tomasetti have worked with the ASCC to develop a conceptual design study… Read more »
NYA Ice Arena
Simons Architects was hired as part of a larger effort to upgrade the athletic facilities across the NYA campus. We studied many options, including building a new arena, converting the existing arena to a gymnasium and fitness center, and then converting the existing gymnasium to a performing arts center. In the end, the school decided… Read more »
All Saints Multi-Purpose Facility
St. John’s School in Brunswick had used the basement of St. John the Baptist’s church as their dining hall and indoor recreation space for many years. Changes to the local building code, and increases in the use of the space resulting from the consolidation of seven parishes to form All Saints Parish, required that… Read more »
Unity College: Portland
Where many people see an unassuming drab brick building in a corner of Portland, Maine’s historic waterfront, Unity College sees an unprecedented opportunity for a physical manifestation of our sustainability mission. This Center for Urban Ecology will demonstrate that in an inclusive transition to a sustainable future, how we choose to make change matters as… Read more »
Brattleboro Music Center
The heart of chamber music is still beating, evidenced by the joy and excitement that is experienced by all who study and perform at the Brattleboro Music Center. Formerly housed in an old convent, using cells as practice rooms, the school lacked acoustical privacy and adequate recital space, impacting performance and creating obstacles to effective… Read more »