| Renovated Dalton Reopened and Reinvigorated
After a two-and-a-half year, $15.5 million restoration, historic Dalton Hall, Bryn Mawr's first building devoted to the sciences, has been reopened and reinvigorated.
With 29 faculty offices and 11 instructional spaces, Dalton is now the home for academic departments in the social sciences; the Center for Social Sciences; and the Center for International Studies.
In the years before the renovation, however, it was a place few wanted to call home.
In a report done prior to the renovation, Dalton Hall was described as "subdivided, underused and obsolete."
Facilities Services Director Glenn Smith put it even more bluntly.
"There was a time when Dalton was the last place you wanted to have a class. It was dark, outdated and not very inviting.
"We wanted to change that and create a space that was inviting and that reaches out to students," said Smith.
The most obvious change to the building when viewed from the outside is the addition of a glass-enclosed rear exterior stairway. But a trip inside reveals that this was as complete a renovation as possible.
Where dark, heavy timber and cast iron supports once made the space more reminiscent of an industrial-era factory than a campus building, there are now floating ceilings with recessed lighting complemented by exposed structural details painted in muted pastels.
"Everything was gutted except for the outside shell and the trusses," said Assistant Director of Planning and Projects Chris Gluesing. "We wanted the final look of the interior to incorporate the industrial past of the building but to also have a modern, more open and airy feel."
Perhaps the most impressive interior spaces are on the third floor. On one side is the largest classroom space on campus — a room with such advanced instructional technology that it has its own control room. On the other side is a spacious new anthropology lab. The elegantly arching trusses of the roof, which could be seen in early photos of the original chemistry lab but were hidden behind drop ceilings in the 1960s, are once again visible in both rooms.
However impressive the changes to the interior are, though, none has quite the impact of the new glass-enclosed exterior staircase tower.
The tower was designed to emulate the turrets seen throughout campus and combines traditional materials such as the slate floor with glass and brushed stainless steel to create a space like no other on campus. Each level of the tower has a seating area, and the upper levels provide some of the most breathtaking views found on campus.
"The staircase obviously serves a very functional purpose but it also serves as a beacon," said Smith. "We're planning in the future to be able to connect Dalton to Guild Computing Center through the tower's lower level, and we tried to create a structure that synthesizes the traditional elements seen in Dalton and the technological future of the college that is so much a part of Guild."
The renovation started in May 2004 with the removal of hazardous materials, which provided one of the few surprises during the project.
"It was an unwanted surprise when we discovered the extent of the mercury that needed to be removed," said Gluesing. "Then we talked to alumnae from years ago and they told us about having mercury races on the wooden floors of the laboratories."
Gluesing said one of the biggest challenges during the renovation was the maneuvering of materials on and off site while each section was worked on.
"Temporary steel shoring and outside scaffolding had to be put in place and it was like a maze of steel," said Gluesing.
Now that the project is complete, Smith and Gluesing said they couldn't be happier with the results.
"This project is a great example of how we can preserve and honor Bryn Mawr's history and at the same bring new life and vitality to the campus," said Smith.
<<Back to Bryn Mawr Now 9/28/2006
Next story>>
|
