The Lawrenceville School was founded in 1810 as an all-male preparatory boarding school, specializing in getting promising young men ready for nearby Princeton University. Located in the historic village of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, the school’s 200-year history includes its progression from initially being a one-building schoolhouse to an exclusive 700-acre campus today.
Fast forward over two centuries. Today you will witness buildings handsomely blending into the extensive, now coeducational campus, which over the years has become “home” for 800-plus high school students. And using today’s measurements, the Lawrence School is roughly a nine-mile car ride to Princeton.
Boston-area firm Sasaki Architects, one of America’s most esteemed architectural firms, was selected by the school’s officials to work on many projects for The Lawrenceville School. The first being the new Gruss Center for Art and Design, which was named for donors Martin and Audrey Gruss. This 17,000-square-foot structure replaces a wing, which was built in the 1960’s… and now connects two existing arts facilities. Sasaki’s overall goals were to
Establish a sustainable, contextually sensitive connector between learning environments on the historic Lawrenceville School campus.
Matt Berk, owner of Eco Windows and Facades stated,
We distribute and install CUPACLAD, a natural slate rainscreen cladding system. We presented this product to Sasaki Architects for their Lawrenceville School project, and they immediately liked it. An initial reason being was it provided a good match to the historic grey roofing of the two buildings that the new, highly modern planned structure would eventually be tucked in between.
Continued Berk:
The grey zinc-coated, two-story curtain wall window was complemented by attractive grey slate CUPACLAD modules on both sides. The visual effects were outstanding. Needless to say, we are extremely proud to have contributed to this amazing project!
CUPACLAD is a natural slate rainscreen cladding system providing a wide range of cladding solutions, from traditional to contemporary, offering architects and specifiers an extensive spectrum of choices. In fact, CUPACLAD offers many design options, the creative possibilities are virtually limitless. Sustainable CUPACLAD natural slate is handcrafted by skilled professionals, with no chemical products or additional treatment required. After easily being installed, the system is so efficient, no maintenance is ever needed.
Durable CUPACLAD slates are installed using a newer and effective installation system, painstakingly crafted by its parent company, CUPA PIZARRAS, the world’s leading source of top-quality slate surfacing materials for construction.
It’s safe to state that CUPACLAD natural slate cladding material, while at first glance can be defined as a “modern design component,” is perfectly suited to be specified for architectural environments that include older buildings, as well. Being oblivious to any climate change, and needing basically no maintenance the CUPACLAD system represents a sound investment in quality, beauty, and longevity. And it’s good to know that when one specifies CUPACLAD, they have just made a totally “natural decision”.