CREW Blue Ribbon Awards Program Book 2024

Fairfield University Bellarmine College Satellite Campus Bridgeport, CT

Owner : Fairfield University Project Size : 23, 600 SF Project Team: Newman Architects, Whiting Turner, Langan, Michael Horton Associates, D’Agostino & Associates, Encon Heating & AC, Kuegler Associates, Dinto Electrical, Acentech, AKF, Existing Conditions Survey While Fairfield anticipates that this location will be temporary as the program grows, the team needed to balance that expectation with Fairfield’s intention that Bellarmine feel like a part of Fairfield’s campus. Each building is fully accessible. To achieve the extremely fast-tracked schedule, Newman called upon a design assist from the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing contractors. The design team’s nimbleness and communication skills, as well as the client’s ability to make quick decisions, were key to achieving herculean schedule deadlines. Supply chain issues required the team’s flexibility to achieve design intentions. The reuse of the existing historic buildings presented major code challenges; the change of use required accessibility upgrades to the site and all buildings. The result is an exciting new opportunity for Fairfield University to serve a growing pool of potential future student leaders in Bridgeport. Project Description Fairfield University reached out to Newman with a concept for a new satellite campus in partnership with the Diocese of Bridgeport, offering two-year degrees to underserved students in preparation for transfer to a four-year program. Following test fits of various Diocese owned sites, Fairfield decided in Fall 2022 to move ahead within the historic St. Ambrose Church, empty since 2012, and its ancillary buildings in Bridgeport’s Boston Avenue Mill Hill neighborhood. Despite challenges from existing conditions, changing building use requirements, and the code and permitting process, Fairfield Bellarmine College opened its doors to the first cohort of students just eleven months later. The 1939 Romanesque church building now houses five flexible classrooms enclosed by a ceiling suspended from the superstructure, a study room with striking historic features, and seating nooks along the corridors. The former convent, built in 1959, now serves as the student center with admissions office, study spaces, a student lounge, common kitchen, and faculty offices. Administrative offices moved into the former Rectory. An existing four bay garage was transformed into a wet lab with prep and support spaces, after the other buildings could not accommodate the use due to code, sprinkler, and exhaust requirements. The buildings also couldn’t house a 100-seat dining hall; as a creative, interim solution, the team designed a specialized food truck parking space on site that serves students on days that classes are in session.

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