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ANDOVER — When the renowned Addison Gallery of American Art, which will close temporarily this summer, re-opens in the spring of 2010, it will be larger, offer more educational programming, and have important new office space and better storage and preservation facilities. It will also have something no other structure in Andover or most of the Merrimack Valley can claim—a “green roof.” A 2,536-square-foot section of the roof of the Addison’s addition will actually become a garden filled with sedum, a low-growing succulent plant that blooms in the late summer and into the fall.
Indigenous to Germany, green roofs were originally designed as an environmental response to the pavement and heat of urban settings. But their benefits are so logical and significant that their popularity has spread across Europe and into the Americas. Flat roofs are first covered with a waterproof membrane, then with plastic trays containing either soil or an artificial growth medium in which drought-resistant vegetation is planted. The environmental advantages, says Phillips Academy Director of Facilities Michael Williams, are numerous: It helps manage storm water run-off, it improves a building’s energy performance, it can double or triple a roof’s lifespan, and it takes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and returns oxygen, which contributes to a healthier environment overall.
Williams said that cost savings might accrue eventually, but that the primary motivations for installing the new design were environmental and aesthetic. The green roof will cover the storage and preservation area of the addition, slightly more than 36 percent of the new roof area. Rising above the roof will be two floors of glass windows overlooking not an unsightly rooftop, but a garden.
Officials from the Town of Andover are applauding plans to install the eco-friendly technology, hoping it will spark interest in incorporating it into new development as well renovations of existing buildings in town. Town Planning Director Paul Materazzo said, “Phillips Academy deserves kudos for moving forward with this idea, which has so many advantages over conventional designs.” He said he already had spoken to Williams about developing information sessions on the site for developers and contractors using the green roof as a showcase once it is completed.
The idea came from the architectural firm that designed the addition and renovations, Centerbrook Architects and Planners in Centerbrook, Conn., which has installed a green roof on its own office building. The concept was quickly embraced by Phillips Academy.
“It’s hard to make museums green,” said Williams, “because you’re dealing with significant climate control, so the more we can do to off-set that use of energy, the better.” He said the Addison addition also will feature another environmental innovation—passive solar control using a stainless steel screen fabric over its glass walls. Another German design, the mesh, Williams said, is also aesthetically appealing as it softens the appearance of the glass.
The renovation and 11,811-square-foot expansion project, the first in the Addison’s 77-year history, will create the Addison Gallery Museum Learning Center to better accommodate classes, other schools, the public, and private scholars seeking to access the museum’s vast trove of American art. It also will create storage and preservation space on the premises, new offices to accommodate staff, and restore and update critical systems in the historic campus landmark, which was designed by Charles Platt.
To finance the addition and restoration, The Campaign for the Addison formally began in November 2007 with the goal of $30 million, of which nearly two-thirds has been raised. The museum will close its doors in July 2008 for construction. Pieces from its impressive collection of more than 16,000 works will be on display around the country in various galleries and museums until the re-opening in spring 2010. Educational programs will continue on a reduced basis from other locations on campus until the project’s completion.
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