The community gathered in a festival-style celebration for the construction groundbreaking of an innovative design commission by Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects.
Renderings
Frank E. Dittenhafer II has never seen a groundbreaking like it.
There were food trucks and government officials. There were artists and vendors. At the center of it all, a row of gold-painted shovels marked the occasion: the groundbreaking for the Severn (Intergenerational) Center in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
The November 2021 groundbreaking marked the start of an exciting new offering for the County and its residents — one that’s been a longtime in the making. The facility will boast:
• a state-of-the-art Boys & Girls Club, with a full-size gymnasium and Teen Club;
• a regional Senior Activity Center, which will host educational programs, recreational activities, and classes in art, history, crafts, technology, dance, and physical fitness;
• a flexible community space intended for public meetings and programming for residents of all ages;
• and an exterior plaza space designed to be open to the community with a welcoming atmosphere, ADA-accessible paths, as well as seating, plants, and public art.
“It’s always exciting to see a community so engaged in the process of a commission like this,” says Dittenhafer, President and co-founder of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects. “This is for them. It can really impact the community in a profound way, and that’s why we’re so honored to design places like this.”
A new hub
The new 26,000-square-foot, $12.7 million facility is being developed next to Van Bokkelen Elementary School. An image of outstretched hands inspired the exterior community plaza design, where a curving white metal canopy with “cut outs of hands” will represent the welcoming purpose of the plaza gathering space.
With construction expected to be complete Winter 2023, the excitement for this new facility continues to build.
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The end result is a project that started with Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects taking the time to learn about the community’s needs, listening to their hopes, and delivering a design that brings it all together.
“If people don’t appreciate or love their buildings, if they don’t see themselves in it, it becomes a building without meaning,” says Jonathan Taube, Architect at Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects. “They bring the knowledge and understanding of their community, and we bring the knowledge of design married with purpose and inspiration. You need those things working together to create beautiful Architecture.”
Canopy rendering
A reason to celebrate
Just as the new Severn Center will celebrate and uplift a diverse population, the project itself is a great way to create opportunities for minority contractors and businesses. Because of significant grant funding, a percentage of the work is required to be completed by minority- and women-owned businesses — an important goal for Anne Arundel County.
M&D also was able to help make connections with the local art community, especially with future work for the courtyard, where installations and collaborative projects could be a prime part of the space.
What appeared to be hundreds of people who gathered for the groundbreaking — a rare but exciting opportunity to launch a new project – was a welcome sign of enthusiasm and what could be in the future.
Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects took on the Architecture, Interior Design, & Overall Project Management for the new Bedford Elementary School, and the outcome is impactful.