Academy of Notre Dame: Riley Center for STEM Education

Academy of Notre Dame: Riley Center for STEM Education

Academy-Notre-Dame-Science-Web

Size: 30,000 s.f. , two story

Location: Villanova, Pennsylvania

Architect: SMP Architects

Builder: Adams Bickel

The Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (‘NDA’), established in 1856, is a Catholic, independent, college preparatory school, which commits itself to the education of young women of grades six through 12 for responsible living in a global society. The Academy, rooted in the faith tradition of the Catholic Church, and the charism of Saint Julie Billiart, provides its approximately 540 students with a challenging academic curriculum within a rich spiritual community.

Phase II of NDA’s 2016 Campus Master Plan includes the construction of a state-of-the-art Center for STEM Education which provides its students and faculty with an innovative learning environment in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Center has technology enabled active learning (TEAL) environments that include eight science laboratories, three lab prep rooms, eight mathematics classrooms, a design thinking and entrepreneurship classroom, and labs dedicated to design and innovation, robotics, and coding. The Center links to an existing Rose Garden, retaining the original stone walls, while shaping a new outdoor teaching and learning space for environmental studies.

Other team members include SMP Architects, Momenee Engineering, and Bruce E. Brooks.