The Bronxville School celebrated the grand opening of its newly renovated auditorium on Wednesday, December 16, 2015. The celebration featured performances by members of the Bronxville High School Chorus, Orchestra and Band, as well as a special recognition of the PTA, Bronxville School Foundation and private donors who were instrumental in the success of the renovation project.

Originally built in 1922, the Bronxville School auditorium was urgently in need of reconfiguration and restoration. In spite of ongoing work to maintain the facility, by 2012 the auditorium was in a state of disrepair with missing seats, poor lighting, improper sightlines, and non-functional balcony that was no longer in use. Additionally, a 1960s renovation created a false proscenium over the original and closed in the tall windows on both sides of the auditorium. As a result, the renovated proscenium swallowed performance sound and the lack of natural light reduced the auditorium’s flexibility.

KG+D partnered with the Bronxville USFD to collaboratively restore the beauty and functionality of the original auditorium while incorporating 21st Century elements to create a multi-use space for the Bronxville community. The project goals included maximizing seating capacity and performance space, improving sightlines and the overall acoustics of the space and creating a separate space for public access.

The Bronxville Auditorium is a flexible, accessible and technologically advanced theater space that functions as the center of the Bronxville School Community and is an asset to the Village of Bronxville.

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KG+D is proud to announce that the Bronxville Schools Auditorium was honored with the AIANYS Excelsior Award of Distinction in Public Architecture. The AIANYS Excelsior Awards celebrate design and professional excellence in publicly funded buildings in New York State. KG+D was proud to partner with the Bronxville Union Free School District on this dynamic community gathering and performance space:

“KG+D is honored to be recognized by AIANYS for our work with Bronxville Union Free School District on the renovated auditorium,” said Russell A. Davidson, FAIA President of KG+D Architects, PC. “As the majority of our firm’s work is based in publicly funded projects, our team takes pride in partnering with organizations and institutions to provide beautiful spaces for the community. The historically mindful, flexible, community focused, auditorium that developed through a true collaboration with Bronxville Union Free School is a direct reflection of the Bronxville community.” -Russell A. Davidson

While safety and security have always been an important part of school planning and design, the recent increase in violent school tragedies have renewed the sense of urgency and put safety at the forefront of conversations about school buildings. KG+D has worked with many educational facilities throughout the Lower Hudson Valley to address this critical issue and fortify schools without turning them into fortresses.

“Security in schools often comes down to finding the right balance between visibility and the ability to isolate a portion of the population,” said Russell Davidson, one of the firm’s principal architects. “Completely open plans with lots of glass are and completely closed buildings with no visual connections can be equally inappropriate. The ability to see what is going on and to be seen, behind a secure enclosure, by law enforcement can often lead to a safer environment. Of course this needs to be combined with the ability to find a safe refuge where you cannot be seen when there is an active threat. These are the reasons why security planning is an architectural design challenge often completed in active collaboration with building administrators and security specialists. Each solution is a unique approach that is tailored to the population and the specific building configuration.”

As school architects, our goal is to incorporate secure design solutions without detracting from the impression of the learning environment. The goal is to increase the time it takes to get into and out of buildings; the overall strategy to create delay and in turn create more time for administration to react and for first responders to arrive. While schools cannot be designed completely around aggressive intruders, they can incorporate secure design solutions that increase student and teacher safety.

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Russell A. Davidson, FAIA, Managing Principal + President of KG+D Architects was inaugurated as the 92nd President of the AIA during ceremonies held on December 4th, 2015 at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. He succeeds the 91st President, Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, in representing nearly 88,000 AIA members.

“Now is the time to move from good to great and to fully realize the potential of one of our country’s oldest professional associations,” said Davidson at his inauguration. “In an election year we will leverage the attention paid to the future of America to point out that architects, along with our partners in the design and construction industry, not only designed the places that define American cities towns and villages, but also are the leading edge of a major economic force.”

Davidson has held a multitude of elected positions within the AIA including serving as president of AIA Westchester + Hudson Valley in 1999 and president of AIA New York State in 2007. He joined the AIA National Board in 2009 and served as AIA Vice President from 2012-2013. Throughout his national leadership tenure, Davidson has maintained a special focus on government and public advocacy for architects and architecture.

Photo Credit: William Stewart Photography

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