RMJM

The Peddie School selected RMJM to design the 42,000-square-foot Walter and Leonore Annenberg Science Center. The building features teaching labs for chemistry, biology, and physics, and incorporates two innovative Special Projects rooms, where students explore research topics of their own choosing.

The project makes an important contribution to the theory of designing school buildings with a unique central space called the "Spine of Light". This space is specifically designed to foster informal communication between teachers and students. It is a place for kids to "hang-out" with their teachers—outside the formal classroom setting. With a very large south-facing glass wall, this area will always be flooded with natural light.

The architectural design of the building is dramatic, expressing the importance of science at Peddie through the bold gesture of a sweeping curved wall of zinc and large areas of glass. To balance the bravado of the structure, the selected color palette incorporates the Science Center nicely among the more traditional buildings of the surrounding campus.