Brooklyn, NY

Packer Collegiate Institute is a pre-kindergarten to grade 12 private school in Brooklyn. Founded in 1845, the campus grew from what is now the main building, enlarged in the late nineteenth century, to include an 1846 brownstone and the St. Ann’s Church building, acquired in 1969.

H3’s master plan called for spaces that would support the lower, middle, and high schools’ individual goals and in so doing integrate the church into the overall design.

The project consolidates each division’s classrooms into discrete areas, with the middle school being housed entirely within the church. H3 added five science rooms and eighteen new classrooms with ample accommodation for technology. The school boasts a new performing-arts center and expanded and consolidated libraries, along with faculty office space, a new student and faculty fitness center, and a commons with food service capabilities for hosting events.

In order to maintain the church facade’s architectural integrity, we placed a contemporary building within the historic shell. Further juxtaposing new with old was the creation of a multi-level glass-enclosed structure that connects the new middle school, the commons, and the main building.

CLIENT: Packer Collegiate Institute
COMPLETION: 2003
SIZE: 68,000 square foot renovation,
9,000 square foot new construction
COST: $17 million