Friday was commissioned by Friends School Mullica Hill to design a new lower school classroom building. A compressed schedule and a tight budget demanded the institution of a regimen of weekly meetings throughout that summer. This routine fit well with Friday’s methodology which is centered around an intense, interactive group process during the all-important programming and early design phases. Conceptual Design was successfully completed by early August and Schematic Design by mid-September. This process proved so satisfying that the Building Committee and Friday chose to continue the weekly meetings into the Fall to review progress on design and construction documentation and to prepare for zoning and other governmental reviews.
The construction was implemented under an open book, Gross Maximum Price (GMP) contracting method enabling FSMH to realize significant savings.
In 25,000sf and on three levels, the building houses 8 general purpose classrooms, 2 science classrooms, the campus library, music education and practice facilities, and administrative and faculty spaces. It was designed and detailed in sympathy with the rural, agrarian aesthetic of its south Jersey site.