Blair/Tyson Dorms at College of the Atlantic
Identifier:
1212 
Title:
Blair/Tyson Dorms at College of the Atlantic
Description:
Elevations, floor plans, site plans, sketches, full construction set
Roc Caivano, architect; Wells Bacon, student assistant; Lanpher Associates, engineers
Roc's comments:
Lou Rabineau, COA President asked us to design new dorms for COA. We did some research and learned that groups of 8 or less will take responsibility for their living environment but more than that number ignore their responsibilities to others. So we designed seven separate 8 bed apartments interconnected. The building form followed the real estate divisions of the of the old property lines, the geological shape of the land at the entrance to the Turrets and was meant to evoke images of older 19th century barns and stables and work buildings. The courtyard faced true south and brought fresh air and sun into every room.
We came to MDI to work at the newly founded College of the Atlantic in 1974. I did any number of small projects and helped renovate the Turrets during those years but always wanted to do something of substance for them. When we returned from an extended "residency" working as an associate in the Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown firm in Philadelphia, Lou Rabineau, the then president of the college, asked me to design a new dormitory for them. They had come a long way since our earlier struggling days and, I think Lou had a great deal to do with putting them on the right track. Todd Stanley, John Gordon, Wells Bacon and John De Fazio ( a Venturi colleague) all helped with this first large project. I did some research and found that groups of people in units of 8 or less were aware and cared for their common environment so we divided the dormitory into 7, 8 bed living units- each with kitchens common rooms and separated bathrooms on each floor. We oriented the clusters at the entrance to the Turrets where the old carriage house and servant facilities were once placed and treated the building form in the same detail and scale. We prepared the rooms so each got direct sunlight and fresh air and all opened onto a common courtyard. The single rooms were designed to code minimum doubles and the double rooms to code minimum triples which allowed the college to expand from the 56 beds used on a regular basis to a 74 bed capability in an emergency. All of this worked! The building has been the home for close to 2000 young students and survived in excellent form with very little maintenance. One of my proudest accomplishments ever.
Roc Caivano, architect; Wells Bacon, student assistant; Lanpher Associates, engineers
Roc's comments:
Lou Rabineau, COA President asked us to design new dorms for COA. We did some research and learned that groups of 8 or less will take responsibility for their living environment but more than that number ignore their responsibilities to others. So we designed seven separate 8 bed apartments interconnected. The building form followed the real estate divisions of the of the old property lines, the geological shape of the land at the entrance to the Turrets and was meant to evoke images of older 19th century barns and stables and work buildings. The courtyard faced true south and brought fresh air and sun into every room.
We came to MDI to work at the newly founded College of the Atlantic in 1974. I did any number of small projects and helped renovate the Turrets during those years but always wanted to do something of substance for them. When we returned from an extended "residency" working as an associate in the Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown firm in Philadelphia, Lou Rabineau, the then president of the college, asked me to design a new dormitory for them. They had come a long way since our earlier struggling days and, I think Lou had a great deal to do with putting them on the right track. Todd Stanley, John Gordon, Wells Bacon and John De Fazio ( a Venturi colleague) all helped with this first large project. I did some research and found that groups of people in units of 8 or less were aware and cared for their common environment so we divided the dormitory into 7, 8 bed living units- each with kitchens common rooms and separated bathrooms on each floor. We oriented the clusters at the entrance to the Turrets where the old carriage house and servant facilities were once placed and treated the building form in the same detail and scale. We prepared the rooms so each got direct sunlight and fresh air and all opened onto a common courtyard. The single rooms were designed to code minimum doubles and the double rooms to code minimum triples which allowed the college to expand from the 56 beds used on a regular basis to a 74 bed capability in an emergency. All of this worked! The building has been the home for close to 2000 young students and survived in excellent form with very little maintenance. One of my proudest accomplishments ever.
Creator:
Roc Caivano
Date:
1993-1994
Medium:
40 paper vellum, 4 diazo, 1 paper, 28 tracing paper, 1 sepia, 67 mylar
Pages:
141 sheets
Collection:
Object ID:
ADC 0214 ROC
Location:
FF D-4, 5E TOP
Property Name:
College of the Atlantic
Place:
Bar Harbor
Street:
Eden Street
Citation
Roc Caivano, “Blair/Tyson Dorms at College of the Atlantic,” Northeast Harbor Library, accessed May 3, 2024, https://nehl.digitalarchive.us/items/show/218.Item 1212