Anticipating the Hop renovation

During 2012 and 2013, the Portland, Oregon firm of Bora (formerly Boora) designed a tidy set of infill additions to the Hopkins Center. Architect Stephen Weeks describes the designs:

Master plan and concept design for the transformation of the iconic Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth. Plans include a new performance laboratory to support cutting-edge multidisciplinary research, rehearsal and performance. New studios for music, theater, and visual art; student study/social space; and a new student dining facility will revitalize the historic Wallace Harrison designed building facing Dartmouth Green.

The college, preoccupied with the Hood project, did not move forward with any design at the time. As of late 2016, there was still no immediate intention to carry out the renovation (Valley News).

The Hood is scheduled to open in January, and there is word that the Hop is preparing for renovations to take place during 2019 (Valley News). (There is no word on whether these renovations are the ones designed by Bora.)

Hargreaves Associates landscape architects have posted elaborate images of a redesign of the Hop’s forecourt, meant to create an entrance to the overall “Arts District.” This unexpected design sort of domesticates the Hop, making its forecourt more like that of Baker: a lawn crossed by paths. (The firm’s description characterizes the project as bringing the Green across Wheelock Street, which is right.) The design resolves the problem of what to do with the rectangular fenced grass plot in front of Zahm, an off-limits remnant. The outdoor stair to the Hop Terrace is a superb and long-overdue intervention. This project is presumably on hold until the Hop renovation ends.

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