Massachusetts Maritime Academy

+ Overview

The RADM Maurice Bresnahan Engineering Building houses engineering laboratories and classrooms used to train cadets about marine mechanical, electrical, and power generation systems. The original facility dates to the 1960s and was inadequate for teaching the current curriculum. The facility is in high risk tidal flood zone, requiring walls and door openings located within the first four feet above grade to be watertight, and all building materials must be stable in the presence of water. The new addition utilizes a three-story atrium that connects to the existing building and allows natural light to enter existing laboratories that would have been obscured with a more conventional design. The ground floor of the atrium is a pedestrian street connecting the campus parade ground and residential complex to the Harrington Building, the main administrative and classroom building at the Academy. The addition includes classrooms, faculty offices, an expanded electrical laboratory, and labs for turbines and boilers, fluids and thermodynamics, refrigeration, meteorology, and marine safety. The existing facility was also upgraded to meet accessibility and life safety requirements.

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+ Project Details

• Client Division of Capital Asset Management + Maintenance, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Project Type Addition + Renovation
• Size 26,000 sf Addition + 29,900 sf Renovation

+ Awards

• 2007 DCAMM Awards for Excellence Program, Design + Construction Winner