ALBANY, NY – In its first-ever awards, Architectural Record selected Emma Willard School’s Alice Dodge Wallace ’38 Center for the Performing Arts as one of the year’s best built or unbuilt projects. Designed by Annum Architects and delivered by Consigli Construction Co., Inc., the project was recognized in the Performing Spaces category and is one of just 14 honorees worldwide.

To bring Emma Willard School’s vision to life, Consigli transformed one of the oldest buildings on campus, Alumnae Chapel, into a state-of-the-art hub for the creative and performing arts with the capacity to – for the first time in decades – accommodate the entire school community in one space.

While maintaining its historic character and preserving its one-of-a-kind baroque organ, Consigli led a full-gut renovation of the century-old chapel, upgrading functionality and modernizing the space with enhanced acoustics and technology. Consigli also restored the chapel’s limestone façade and completed a full replacement of its slate roof, as well as the wood trusses that support the chapel’s vaulted ceilings.

Additionally, a new subterranean arts wing was built adjacent to the existing chapel to expand resources for theater, music and dance. Equipped with flexible studios, rehearsal spaces and a black box theater, the new space is housed beneath an accessible green roof that blends seamlessly into the campus landscape.

Learn more about the project here.

Read more in Architectural Record here.