New England Conservatory of Music Expansion Study

The New England Conservatory of Music engaged Stahl Associates for several studies and analyses.  The project team, led by Richard Smith, did a peer review of the design work for the renovation to Jordan Hall, and they studied the 1950’s era library and dormitory building across Gainsborough Street.  As the inadequacies and constraints of the library facility became clear, the team was asked to study what could be done with a surface parking lot adjacent to the library building.  The result was a concept for a multiuse building, with an expanded library, classrooms, offices and a student center on the lower levels, and an option to expand vertically to create several levels of student housing, a critical issue for NEC.  The study design became the first step in the development of a new building, and the completed project utilizes many of the planning and organizational concepts developed in this study.

(Richard Smith was the Project Principal at Stahl Associates)