The Town of Middlebury had used the former High School for its Town Offices since 1961. The Municipal Gym, built in 1934 as a WPA project, was attached to the old High School and had surpassed its useful life. Studies had been conducted over a 20 year period to determine whether to renovate the existing structures, rebuild on site, or build new facilities on other sites in town.

Bread Loaf was selected to study an option to build a new Town Hall on a downtown site and a new Recreation Center next to existing playing fields outside of downtown. Our first phase of services focused on developing building programs, conceptual designs and a total project budget to be presented to the community. After approval by voters, Bread Loaf was retained to provide Design-Build services for both projects.

The new 13,880 sf Recreation Center is organized around a large, flexible main lobby with the regulation sized multi-sport gymnasium flanking one side and support spaces - offices, multi-purpose room, and quiet studio on the other side. There are also four team rooms to serve the adjoining playing fields as well as sports using the gymnasium.

The building features a robust, energy efficient building envelope. The load-bearing, cavity wall construction includes six (6) inches of spray-foam insulation to reduce building energy loads. LED lighting, daylighting and low-flow plumbing fixtures all contribute to energy and water conservation. The roof structure was planned for the Town to add photovoltaic panels at a later date.

• Super insulated and air tight envelope
• Passive solar heating
• Exterior solar shading to reduce glare and summer solar heat gain
• Natural daylighting and ventilation
• Highly efficient mechanical systems
• Indigenous plantings
• LED light fixtures with occupancy control
• Water conserving plumbing fixtures
• Sourcing of local materials and craftsmen
• Materials with high recycled content
• Highly durable materials
• Low VOC’s and formaldehyde free material
• Minimal construction waste practices
• Collaboration with Efficiency Vermont during planning, design, construction and commissioning phases
• Enhanced Commissioning of the building envelope and mechanical system
• Roof designed for future PV’s
• Siting of the recreation facility in an existing recreation park with a planned sidewalk extension