The new addition at the South Shore Conservatory in Hingham, which will nearly double the size of the facility, is scheduled to open in July.
The cacophony of jackhammers and drills at the South Shore Conservatory in Hingham will soon give way to a modern symphony of sounds – not only Chopin and Mozart, but also the giggles of small children and the rhythms of rap music. Recently the organization has branched out, offering more and varying programs to reflect the progression of the times. And while the conservatory has expanded its thinking, the building has expanded its walls, almost doubling in size from 11,000 square feet to approximately 21,000 square feet, with a grand opening slated for July.
The conservatory opened in 1970 as a non-degree granting community music school with the mission of “provid[ing] community access to quality education in the performing arts,” according to its Web site.
The building houses not only space for making music, but also a kindergarten, a variety of offices and a performance hall. A second campus in Duxbury joined the initial site in 1980, but the expansion was not enough to accommodate a 100 percent increase in demand for programs experienced in the last five years.
The proposed addition was to make space for nine individual teaching studios, three multi-purpose classrooms for ensembles and performances, a professional gallery space and a new reception and waiting area, all at an estimated cost of $3 million.
In order to make such a significant change to a building in the Hingham community, those at the conservatory had to look toward the community for approval and support.
“Hingham is not an easy process,” said Alfred Wojciechowski, a principal at Boston-based Childs Bertman Tseckares architecture firm who was hired to design the remodeling. “There is a bit of a preservationalist attitude. But it’s actually been a relatively smooth process because the people involved in shepherding this through really did their homework.”
The construction company, Newton-based Chapman Construction, was chosen not only because of its past projects, but also because of its ability to understand the focus on community.
“They were chosen from a short list of potential candidates. There was an interview process during which [the conservatory] sought personality, a certain approach and [focused on] the emotional feel of it,” said Wojciechowski.
Gaining approval for the addition was also remarkably easy, something that Wojciechowski attributes to the notion that the community was the main benefactor. “[The construction] was not to make [the conservatory] more of an institution, but rather to keep it a part of the community. It’s almost a retreat and a repose area,” he said.
Because of the conservatory’s stature within Hingham, residents were also more willing to donate money, for which they receive a small dedication within the building. “Instead of donating purely money, you can feel connected to the project personally,” said Wojciechowski.
‘A Great Synergy’
With funding in place and the players selected, the project broke ground in July 2003.
“One of the key aspects was to allow more visual art and become a community art center in the broad sense,” said Wojciechowski. “There is a great synergy between visual art and musical art.”
The gallery space that was erected will serve as a gathering space and as a nice grown-up balance to some of the additions for the younger Hingham residents. The walls were purposefully kept open with two spaces allocated for larger pieces.
“In order to create a great space for kids, I wanted parents to be comfortable, too. The idea was to give it flexibility,” said Wojciechowski.
While it was seemingly easy to integrate space for the two age groups, one of the main challenges to designing the space was the integration of the two existing structures: the main house and the performance hall.
The house was originally built in the early part of the 20th century by the Navy to house the admiral stationed at the local base. In an interesting twist, identical houses with the same floor plan were built all over the country at many naval bases so that when an admiral and his family were relocated they would still feel at home, according to Wojciechowski. The building was recently renamed the James Simpson Building, after the director of the conservatory.
The performance hall was built much more recently but was only adjoined to the house by a small corridor. The hall’s shingled style was “never quite right on the outside,” said Wojciechowski, and so he took his cues from the look of the house’s exterior.
“We looked at it and said maybe we should make it more of a unique piece,” he said. “The house is a big stucco [building] with a large front porch. We made the new portion of the building a combination of shingle style and some stucco. It’s a much more playful and interpretive method, getting away from the monolithic quality that stucco has. It’s a transformation.”
The interior of the conservatory also proved to be a tricky task. Because of the mixed-use nature of the spaces, the design had to be both general and distinct.
“The spaces are multi-use in a sense, but are specifically designed for individual uses. When you roll out the kindergarten trappings it feels like a kindergarten, but when you roll out the black Steinway [piano] it feels like a performance hall. We knew what the uses were, so each one was catered to through the design,” said Wojciechowski.
Other aspects of the conservatory were made to have personality. Each of the practice rooms and classrooms were given distinctly shaped windows on both the exterior and interior walls.
“When you go to class you’re like, ‘I have a room with a little round window or the big arched window,'” said Wojciechowski, to combat the sense of separation and uniformity found in many conventional conservatories.
“As opposed to being all about isolation, it’s actually all about community. You can prop the doors open and let the music drift through the hallways,” said Wojciechowski. However, the space also was designed in tandem with acoustic engineers so that “there’s the ability for a person to be in one practice room and play the trumpet and not be able to be heard by someone in the next,” he added.
The project is now in its last stages and the conservatory is coming close to what it was hoped to be: a home for artistry of all kinds.
“The sense of art and music pervades. There is also an expression to the building form and the detailing. Architecture is a part of the arts,” said Wojciechowski. “When I look at it coming to fruition I know we’re getting a building to perform in and that the building itself is a performance.”
