Cast Stone

In the heart of Georgia, architecture firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent has completed a Georgian-style academic building on the campus of Wesleyan College. The 42,000-square-foot, $12.5 million structure is the first new academic building constructed on the Macon, Ga., campus in more than 40 years. Lord, Aeck & Sargent's Josh Andrews, project designer for the Munroe Science Center project, spoke to Masonryabout the decision to use brick and cast stone on the building.

MASONRY: What considerations did you have to make when constructing a new building to fit into a landscape with older, existing buildings on campus?
Josh Andrews: It is always a challenge when designing on a historic campus, but we let the context of the site be our guide. The project is centered between two flanking buildings, which suggested to us to create a symmetrical building with strong central entries. Its prominent location informed us that the building should provide an iconic face for the college to the city of Macon on the street side, and establish itself as an anchor building on the green space on the campus side. We were able to use components of the Georgian style such as cornices, well-proportioned windows, and Flemish bond brick patterns to provide a sense of scale to a large laboratory building.

MASONRY: Why did you use brick and cast stone on this building?
JA: Brick and cast stone were selected to allow the building to integrate into the existing campus context as well as provide a high level of durability. We understand that buildings designed on college campuses must stand the test of time both in aesthetics and quality. Brick and cast stone provide both.

MASONRY: Why did you choose cast stone over natural stone, and what are the benefits of cast stone?
JA: Cast stone was used on the project to match material currently used on campus, and it was more affordable than natural stone on this project. Cast stone allowed us to design multiple shapes, sizes and profiles in a cost-effective manner.

Images courtesy of walterelliott.com