2018 01 KSS Architects Firm Lookbook

FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY CENTER The newly renovated University Center creates a ‘front door’ past the event rooms, gallery, and dynamic, student-centered facility that kindles learning marketplace dining, the main street graciously steps opportunities and collaboration between students, down toward the center of campus to wrap along faculty, and community. A comfortable “living room” the quad in a dramatic double-height student lounge for students to meet, relax, study, and socialize, the space. The transparency of the elevation into quad- University Center is transformed into an architectural level lounge will captivate the campus community as centerpiece to enliven the nearby quad and showcase it displays student life 24/7. The new additions to the the student life of FSU. It is the place to “see and be north and west seamlessly link many of the facility’s seen” and a hub for student life. most important features and functions. With its transformation the University Center The new University Center provides connections becomes a front door and gateway to the campus, a for faculty and students, space for formal and window into student life and a resource for academic informal learning, and achieves a real “wow” factor and social activities. The center will be an open and through the use of design elements that showcase engaging place for the University and Big Rapids the activities within through light, color, and rich community to come together. Organized along an building materials. internal “street” which flows from the campus Location: Big Rapids, Michigan Size: 135,000 sf (112,00 sf renovation; 23,00 sf addition) Features: Event rooms, Meeting rooms, Informal lounges, Bookstore, Student organization offices, Career services, Coffee shop, Dining, Emporium, Tech services, Student life offices Associate Architect: Neumann/Smith Architecture| 102



KEAN UNIVERSITY HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE & NANCY THOMPSON LIBRARY Kean University conceived the Human Rights share a new light-filled entry finished with cast Institute as an educational center to promote stone and wood panels, leading to three floors global understanding and diversity through housing an open exhibition space, a large reading outreach to the academic and regional room featuring club seating and group work areas, communities. The nature of the institute’s mission study rooms, offices, and two large seminar rooms to become a prominent, interactive repository of that will accommodate lectures, classes, and information, programs, and resources made Kean’s administrative spaces. The design incorporates Nancy Thompson Library an ideal location because bamboo flooring, recycled carpet tiles, and of opportunities to share references and spaces clerestory windows to reinforce the message of common to both programs. international and environmental awareness. Slate treads of the staircase leading to the institute’s The institute, an exciting addition to the library, second-floor reception area are engraved with conveys its mission while preserving its distinct universal messages from human rights leaders. but interconnected role. The institute and library Location: Union, New Jersey Size: 12,000 sf addition Features: Exhibit hall, Gallery, Administration, Reading room, Outdoor garden Recognition: Honor Award, AIA New Jersey| 104





WELLNESS



WHERE NATUREAND NURTURE GOHAND IN HANDCASE STUDY: GOTTESMANRTW ACADEMYGottesman RTW Academy (GRTWA) was foundedin 1967 and serves approximately 225 children fromearly childhood education through eighth grade. Toachieve the school’s mission of academic excellenceand nurturing students in an environment infusedwith the thoughtfulness & richness of Jewish life,KSS designed the new 48,000 sf educational facilitywith emphasis on connectivity with the environment,sustainability, community, Jewish culture, andflexibility in dynamic learning environments.Emerging from the highest point on the hill top, thenew school rises from the glacier-formed bedrockbelow. The exterior concrete alludes to the stonewalls of Jerusalem, while vertical wooden slatsfilter light through the common space, echoing thesurrounding landscape of mature trees - carefullypreserved during construction. 60-75% of energyconsumed by GRTWA is provided by a rooftop solarphotovoltaic system and tracked by a display near thescience center. A kosher kitchen provides consciouseating programs and onsite opportunities forreligious and religious programs. A vegetable gardenharmonizes farm-to-table practice and ceremonialJudaic herbs, embodying GRTWA’s gracefulcombination of spiritual and educational growth. 109 |

1. Lobby 12 OF FAITH10 10 10 14 EDUCATIONALLY INNOVATIVE2. Dining3. Gymnasium 15 11 At the heart of this project is an intimate understanding of how4. Arts 11 Gottesman RTW Academy infuses learning, nature, and community5. Kitchen 12 with the Jewish faith:6. Garden7. Sanctuary 9 10 10 10 10 • Cream-colored cement panels clad the exterior in an aesthetic that8. Library emulates Israel’s Western Wall—the school has even the same number9. Administration Second Floor of courses as the Western Wall does at its highest point. The color of10. Classroom the façade was matched to on-site rock outcroppings.11. Pre-School12. Commons • Included in the exterior facade of the gym is a stone that emulates13. Science Lab the Western Stone, the monolithic mass that is the largest stone in14. Lounge the Western Wall. Historically one of the largest building blocks in the15. Conference world, the Western Stone is one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by people without powered machinery—evoking it at the base of the 8 10 10 10 gymnasium wall is a nod to both perspiration and inspiration.4 12 • Twelve small and humble square punch windows are scattered 4 throughout the project, reflecting the twelve tribes of Israel. 10 10 10 4 9 1 3 First Floor 7 5 26 10’2 0’ 40’ 60’ 100’| 110























AUBER RESOURCES HILLANDALE LIVING KSS is working with a prominent New Jersey Amenities in the master plan include a pool, developer on a master plan to renovate and tennis courts, topiary gardens, walking paths, and retrofit an existing academy campus into a senior putting greens. A large portion of the site work will residential community. The former Morris County reinforce pedestrian connections between existing school, situated on a hilltop, boasts over 150,000 structures while collecting the existing parking into square feet of historical masonry construction, larger clusters. This new parking will be set into some of which dates back to early 20th century. the hillside as to effectively conceal this additional built space and maintain the existing tranquil This project will implement up to 60 age-restricted atmosphere in and around the campus. condominiums within the existing structures while taking full advantage of the site’s striking geography The resulting master plan represents a and extreme topography. The oldest portion of thoughtful, astute, architectural marriage the structure, a central hall, will be dedicated of historic renovation and preservation with to common space and capitalize on its former modern-day necessities and accoutrements. residential scale to provide comfortable, relaxed areas to be utilized and enjoyed by small groups. Location: Morris County, New Jersey Size: 150,000 sf Program: Age-restricted condominiums Features: Pool, Tennis courts, Topiary gardens, Walking paths, and Putting greens| 122



W. W. GRAINGER, INC. NORTHEAST DISTRIBUTION CENTER This new 1.3 million square foot distribution center will The building enhances that process by addressing be the third ground up facility that KSS has designed employee well-being as much as much as it does for Grainger in a relationship that began in 1994. efficiency. Inside are multi-tiered work areas and an advanced automated retrieval system, all in Innovation has always been at the heart of these spaces that are conditioned and day-lit. Places for buildings matching the Grainger vision of customer offices, gathering, and just relaxing, were given service. Transformed by the advent of e-commerce, great attention in this transformed distribution The Northeast Distribution Center will bring center. Although this footprint is big, it carefully together more than 600 employees, focused on considers itself in the environment in a project that delivering Grainger products faster and in a way is committed to a LEED Gold rating. The Grainger more customized than ever envisioned before. branded identity is ever present, announcing and reinforcing a vision that is always ahead of its time. Location: New Jersey Size: 1.3 million sf. Program: Flexible, state-of-the-art distribution center Features: Cafe, Office space, Support space, Training rooms, Warehouse| 124





STEWARDSHIP

BANCROFT NEW JERSEY CAMPUS “One world. For everyone.” For nearly 130 years, linked by views and pathways. These buildings and Bancroft has been a leader in breaking down a sensory trail will form natural protective edges boundaries for individuals with neurological to the pedestrian campus, with vehicular traffic challenges, autism, and intellectual and and parking located along the perimeter. Key to developmental disabilities. To progress with its the success of the campus is the introduction innovative continuum of care and to unlock each of a commons building that creates synergies person’s full potential for lifelong learning and between the education and housing programs and fulfillment, Bancroft is relocating programs on their provides nodes of interaction with the surrounding 16 acre Haddonfield campus to a new 30 acre campus. community. With a focus on life skills and job training, the new The Commons houses a clinic and medical/dental campus will provide state-of-the-art facilities for center providing both in- and outpatient services. the Bancroft School, the Lindens, and Transitional Caring for the students’ well-being is paramount, Housing in 178,000 square feet of space. Its buildings and the on-site clinic offers an environment where will be organized around a series of outdoor rooms participants can access necessary services in a safe, which will serve a variety of scales and purposes, comfortable setting. Location: New Jersey Size: 178,000 sf; 90 acres Features: Clinic, Medical/Dental Center, Classrooms, Housing, Pool, Early education and intervention, Elementary school, High school, Commons, Sensory space/therapy rooms, Food Service, Gym/motor rooms, Wawa, Welcome center, Lindens Crisis Housing, Transitional step-down housing Contact: Dennis Morgan, 856.524.7514| 128

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UNIFYING INNOVATIONWITH BRANDCASE STUDY: COCA-COLAThrough a continuous application of ingenuityand trust, KSS has built a lasting and expandingrelationship with one of most recognized brandsin the nation. Our relationship began with Coke’snew distribution center in South Brunswick, NJ.KSS transformed Coke’s operating mission “LivePositively” into a building that visibly embracessustainability while expressing brand. Our LEEDSilver design particularly takes advantage of alighting strategy that introduces and monitors 133 |

SOUTH BRUNSWICK DISTRIBUTION FACILITYLEHIGH VALLEY SYRUP PLANT diffuse daylight into the operational portion of Positively” goals. Crafted uniquely with locally the building. Artificial lighting can be curtailed available precast and masonry materials, the when appropriate, impacting nearly one third of a building’s Coca Cola graphic brand is unmistakable. distribution center’s typical energy use while also The relationship between KSS and Coca Cola improving significantly the quality and perception continues to expand as we develop innovative of light. Our signing system promotes the strategies for other distribution centers, production sustainable systems within the building, directly plants, and bottling plants throughout the nation. correlating these measures with specific “LiveThe Coca-Cola CompanyLehigh| 13V4 alley Syrup Plant Expansion

SOUTH BRUNSWICK DISTRIBUTION FACILITY

PANATTONI / PA ASSOCIATES iPORT 12 Large-scale warehouse spaces located as far as site’s environmental hazards by properly closing the 25 miles from Port Newark demand high rents. landfill and incorporating a methane and leachate Subsequently, the site directly at the port, off collection and monitoring system. New Jersey Turnpike’s exit 12 was ideal for a new industrial park with one exception: It was a landfill. iPort 12 has become a bold icon on the turnpike- Building a 1.2 million sf warehouse is no easy -an unmistakable, yet beautiful, expression of task, particularly with contaminated soil as the its purpose and character. In daylight, dramatic substrate. Supported on recycled oil pipes driven vertical fins on the building’s west facade cast down 70 ft to hit bedrock, the building became a dynamic shadows on its textured concrete skin. At first-of-its-kind pile structure specially designed for dusk, glass panes cut vertically into the concrete a warehouse’s lateral and dynamic loads. The team emanate light from inside out and illuminate a devised an 80 ft by 80 ft structural grid, setting a project that has become an environmental and new standard in warehouse design. In addition to economical success. restoring natural wetlands, iPort 12 mitigated the Location: Carteret, New Jersey Size: 1.2 million sf of brownfield redevelopment Features: Flexible, state-of-the-art distribution center, 80’ x 80’ structural bays Recognition: 45th Annual New Jersey Concrete Awards, Merit Award, 2008| 136



SETON HALL UNIVERSITY A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO THE CONCEPT OF CAMPUS Time flies in strong relationships. To date, KSS’s Not one to shy away from a challenge, KSS worked partnership with Seton Hall has spanned more to create a Master Plan to address and help to than 25 projects over four years’ time. Seton Hall visualize the architectural requirements of project originally came to KSS with a project initiation needs. Today, having gone above and beyond study to define its new University Center. Digging the initial call, KSS has become a trusted advisor deeper, KSS discovered additional considerations to Seton Hall, taking on all scale projects from a and issues involving a residence hall, academic Science Building and Field House addition to a Fine classrooms and a parking facility. Together, Seton Arts Studio and a Parking Deck Study, and more Hall and KSS defined goals, impacts, and schedules project continuing the relationship. to initiate a campus development to establish a cohesive vision, create diversity, support community, and encourage student success.| 138 Location: South Orange New Jersey Size: 200,000 sf proposed Features: Informal lounges, Chapel/campus ministry, Admissions/welcome center, 250-seat auditorium, Campus store/C-store, Event rooms, Meeting rooms, Dining hall, Restaurant, Cafe, Retail food court, Administration offices, Student organization offices, Career services, Board room

WARD PLACE SOUTH ORANGE AVENUE SETON DRIVESETON DRIVE SITE PLAN KSS Architects LLP 337 Witherspoon Street Princeton, New Jersey 08542 609.921.1131 | www.kssarchitects.comSince the University Center study four years ago, KSS’s partnershipwith SHU has since grown to over 25 projects – encompassingcommunity, housing, dining, student success, and access to resources. PLACE MATTERS – CREATING DIVERSITY IN CHOICE MATTERS – CREATING VARIETY IN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: DINING HALLS: Seton Hall strives to be a home for the mind, the A side of Architecture can truly enhance a dining heart, and the spirit of a diverse student body. experience. The dining venues of today play a unique In alignment with its Strategic Plan and its focus and important role on college campuses -- not just on distinction in academics and scholarship, the what students eat, but how they dine, can make an creation of Stafford Hall improves the quantity enormous difference in their campus life experience. and quality of academic space on campus. By bringing students, faculty and staff together, dining helps to foster the interaction that is so vital The Hall’s12 state-of-the-art, technology-rich to promoting student engagement and campus classrooms are designed to be modular and community. flexible to support various styles of teaching and learning. From didactic lectures to project-based Fresh ideas in dining are modeled on a “diner” by collaborations, Stafford Hall readily responds to presenting an array of food choices supported both traditional and nontraditional methods of by a variety of dining environments. The large instruction and exploration. Additionally, as we hall is subdivided into smaller-scale, interesting know that 70% of learning takes place outside seating venues to capture the imagination, and of the classroom, it is the spaces in between meet the nutritional and social need of the diners. that hold the most promise for ideation and the Consideration is also given as to how dining is cross-pollination of thinking. By balancing formal integrated into the overall learning environment learning spaces with informal gathering spaces, – combining spaces that are adjacent to or easily Stafford Hall offers a rich, collaborative, and accessible from the dining area to elicit a positive welcoming learning environment. effect on the student learning experience. 139 |

SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE BARBARA WALTERS CAMPUS CENTER Sarah Lawrence College is where Barbara Walters needs and desires of students and stakeholders. learned to ask questions, where she cultivated her The result? The BWCC will be a gathering place curiosity and confidence. The new Barbara Walters for students’ formal and informal socializing, Campus Center will weave together the college’s conversation, and collaborative work—where intellectual, cultural, and social threads, acting students can congregate, unwind, and connect. as a platform for sharing and showcasing Sarah It will be a platform to highlight the impact and Lawrence’s community achievements—and its legacy of Sarah Lawrence’s pioneering education, uniqueness. exemplified by the wide-ranging contributions and archives of their celebrated alumna, Barbara With a design approach that honors the layered, Walters. It will be a place that shines a light on the natural landscape that so seamlessly characterizes aspirations of the Sarah Lawrence community—so the Sarah Lawrence experience, KSS infused the that thousands more students can pioneer new process with a robust suite of visioning sessions, fields, create innovative tools for society, and build gathering deep research and insights onto the the communities that make those dreams possible. Location: Bronxville, New York Size: 31,000 sf new construction Features: Meeting spaces, Dining facilities, Atrium, Multipurpose spaces, Student specialty spaces, Informal hang out spaces, Archives, Gallery, Support spaces| 140

“This is a college where students and their teachers extend their intellectual discourse beyond the classroom, hampered only by the limited number ofcommon spaces. The new campus center will providea venue for an even greater degree of this expression of the College’s unique approach to learning.” DEAN JERRILYNN D. DODDS, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE 141 |

STOCKTON UNIVERSITY POMONA COMMUNITY OF LEARNING KSS Architects teamed up with American Campus each house four bedroom/two bathroom apartment- Communities to develop a dynamic and engaging style units. In keeping with the architecture of community concept for Stockton College. In Stockton’s Campus Center its natural environment, keeping with the College’s Master Plan and the low-rise residential buildings are designed with outlook for future growth, the plan focuses on entry porches, cast stone features and siding with environmental responsibility and an academic the appearance of wood grain. Building entrances response to development. Organized into three and public spaces have large areas of glass to zones, the plan includes athletic fields and sports provide transparency of community activities within venues in its outer and most public zone; well- and views to nature. Low-rise housing is paired integrated parking that meshes with the landscape with a residential tower, featuring a community and ecosystem in the center zone; and residential center and offices on the ground floor and student buildings and the Community of Learning in the residences on floors two through 12. A windowed innermost private zone. multipurpose room offers sweeping views of the Pinelands on the top floor. Overall, the plan is sited The plan includes six low-rise residential buildings with sensitivity to the existing forest and preserved with each three-story building featuring a walk-up ecosystem of the Pinelands, as well as connection to design with eight units on each floor. The buildings the surrounding community. Location: Pomona, New Jersey Program: A vibrant living-learning community Size: 226,639 sf; 752 beds Features: Residential tower, Low-rise apartment-style housing, Fitness center, Business center, Study rooms, Mail center, Social lounge, Gaming lounge, Outdoor patio, Reception and lobby, Offices, Multi-purpose room, Storage areas, Field house, Outdoor concessions| 142



THE MORRIS ARBORETUM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA METASEQUOIA VIEWING STRUCTURE For more than 50 years, a majestic grove of To minimize its impact with the trees’ complex Metasequoia trees has risen high above the root system, the structure has only three support verdant landscape of the Morrisville Arboretum. legs. As visitors ascend the stairs to the basket, Revered for their rapid growth and beautiful bolted connections in the structure’s steel frame straight trunks, the Dawn redwoods had surpassed allow it to flex with their movements, similar to 100 feet since their introduction to the arboretum the sway of tree branches subjected to load and in the 1950s. Accompanying their growing stature, wind. The viewing structure has reinvigorated the unfortunately, was their growing isolation from arboretum visitors’ interest and interaction with visitors below them. Working with two artists the Metasequoias. It also takes sustainable design commissioned to build a new on-site addition, KSS to a new level: Not only is the structure built using Architects translated their visions into a viewing sustainable materials and construction methods, but structure that gives visitors the ability to enter it solely exists to foster a sustainable relationship and experience the tree canopies as easily as birds. between humans and the environment. Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: 200 sf Features: Sustainable materials, Tripod structure to minimize impact on root systems Recognition: American Institute of Architects New Jersey, Merit Award, 2006.| 144





WHO WE ARE

Guidance • Relationships • Innovation • Design

KSS ARCHITECTSFIRM HISTORY EXPERTSKSS Architects is a full-service architecture, AT BUILDING BONDS BETWEENplanning, and interior design firm in Princeton,New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PEOPLE, PROJECT, CLIENT,Since our founding in Princeton in 1983, KSS AND COMMUNITYArchitects has matured, growing in size, abilities,and ambitions. KSS today has a staff of near RELATIONSHIPS that are lasting60 talented and dedicated design professionalspassionate about creating built environments that We believe that deep human relationships are thestimulate commerce, learning, and community. heart of all great architecture. We value building those relationships as much as the building ofGUIDANCE through the process stone and steel. We are experts at building bonds between people and project, client and community.Our clients are leaders in the fields of business, Our firm creates design solutions that facilitateindustry, education, development, cultural and and celebrate these interwoven relationships,social impact. They call us their trusted advisor creating rich and rewarding communities.because we have honed a process of ideation,built upon intensive listening, deep research, and DESIGN that inspirescollaborative imagining. We think like owners,stewarding all the resources of the project to the Architecture, when steeped in expertisegreatest return. We have earned the trust of our and insight, can affect meaningful change—clients to lead them through challenges, manage transforming the heart of the matter beyondthe process, and exceed their goals with design metal and mortar, into empowerment, creativity,that inspires and execution that delivers. knowledge and achievement. Thoughtful detail embedded in a structure cultivates change -INNOVATION in the intersections  meaningful and lasting change.We consistently use creativity to turn opportunityinto reality. We are relentless and fearless inour reimagining of what places can be, creatingmeaningful innovation that realizes many goalsat once. Although we face a world more complexthan ever before, our inquisitive minds and deepexpertise provide the unique ability to solvechallenges with elegant, effective solutions that gobeyond single paradigm design. 149 |

PROFESSIONAL MERITS MERILEE MEACOCK AIA, PP, LEED APLeading Woman Intrapreneur of New Jersey Finalist, 2016. KSS ARCHITECTS | PARTNER“Gottesman RTW Academy Tour,“ AIA NJ State Convention, Merilee is a design leader in the education community. She has assisted large 2015. and small organizations find new building sites, made recommendations for“Community Revitalization: The Restorative Properties of planning new campuses, and designed improvements to make current buildings more functional and dynamic. An excellent communicator, she often organizes Schools,” Planning for Higher Education Journal. Vol. 43 and leads a team approach to the design and construction of buildings and Num. 4, July-September 2015. campuses. Her broad-minded yet pragmatic ideas pave the way to handle“Across the Generations: Addressing the Elephants Still challenges related to the planning, design, and construction of many project in the Room,” Panelist: Groundbreaking Women in types adeptly. She helps clients realize their highest potential by creating a Construction, 2015. legacy of places that is inspirational, comfortable and functional for all.AIA-New Jersey, Architect of the Year, 2014.NJBIZ 50 Best Women in Business, Honoree, 2012. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE“Bringing Education into the Mix.” School Construction News. 2010. Bancroft, New Campus“Transforming Lives and Communities: Successful Planning Build with Purpose, Golden Door Charter School; Obama Green Charter School Strategies for Starting a Charter School.” National Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, KIPP Philadelphia, KIPP Alliance for Public Charter Schools conference. 2009.“The Good Neighbor: Looking to Mission-Based Initiatives to Philadelphia Elementary Academy, Addition and Renovation Develop Programs for the Future.” SCUP Mid Atlantic. 2008. Civic Builders, Hyde Leadership Charter High School“How Design Works for You.” http://howdesignworks.aia. Cranbury K-8 School, Gymnasium, Classrooms and Entry, Addition and Renovation org/casestudy-school.asp. Eden Autism Services, Eden Institute, Special Needs SchoolYoung Architect of the Year, AIA New Jersey, 2003 Gottesman RTW Academy, Addition and RenovationsArchitectural Consultant, LEED for Schools; National Inquiry School, Master Plan and Renovation; Science Classroom Committee, U.S. Green Building Council Kean University, Human Rights Institute, AdditionPrinceton Future KIPP Philadelphia, Fitzsimons Test Fit; Stanton Renovations; WestmorelandChair, Zoning Board, Cranbury Township Mid-Atlantic Preservation Services, Office Building New Jersey City University, University Academy Charter High School; West | 150 Campus Master Plan; West Side Theatre, Renovation New Jersey Schools Development Authority, Barnegat Board of Education, Lillian M. Dunfee Elementary School, West State Street Office Pennington Borough, Municipal Building and Public Library Princeton University Press, Addition, Renovation, and Feasibility Study P.S. 55, Jonathan Rose Green Bronx Machine RBH Group, Makers Village & AeroFarms RBH Group, Teachers Village, Chen School; Discovery Charter School; Great Oaks Charter School; TEAM Charter Schools; SPARK Academy Rutgers University, 15 Washington Arts Space; Hahne & Co. Building Adaptive Re-use ; Biomedical Engineering Building, Information Science & Technology Building, Master Plan, Center for Adult Autism Services TEAM Charter Schools, Newark Collegiate Academy; Littleton The Calais School, Addition and Renovation The Harmony Schools, Daycare Center The Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School, Renovation & Addition Uncommon Schools, 15th Avenue; 310 Sherman Avenue; 377 Washington; Haddon Avenue K-8; Mt. Ephraim; North Star Academy Charter School, Addition and Renovation United States Coast Guard, Building 140 Renovation on Governors Island Widener Partnership, Charter School EDUCATION Bachelor of Architecture & Bachelor of Science, The Pennsylvania State University