Project Category – New Construction (completed June 2000)

Facility Contact – Joe Shields, Vice-President, Marketing and Planning, (603) 335-8151

Firm – Lavallee/Brensinger Architects, (603) 622-5450

Design Team – Joe Britton, Project Manager; Barry Brensinger, CEO, Principal-in-Charge (Lavallee/Brensinger Architects); Rich Roberts, Structural Engineer (Foley & Buhl Engineering, Inc.); Wayne Fillion, Mechanical Engineer (Yeaton Associates); Leon Lupien, Electrical Engineer (C & M Engineering)

Patient/Bed Capacity – N/A

Total Building Area (sq. ft.) – 7,000

Total Land Area (acres) – part of campus

Total Cost – $1,917,187


Frisbie Memorial Hospital challenged the architects to design a conference/education center to serve as a “bridge” between the hospital and its surrounding community; between tradition and high tech; spanning past, present and future.

The design team sited the building as a freestanding center, located on a wooded portion of the campus accessible to the neighboring residential community, and removed from the hospital and its clinical environment.

The architectural concept organizes program elements in a concentric plan, with high-tech conferencing (including interactive long-distance learning) at the core, and social/support activities around the perimeter. This arrangement provides the flexibility needed to accommodate multiple meetings/conferences ranging in size from 12 to 250 participants. It also allows the building’s mass to be broken down for greater compatibility with its residential context.

Building form, details and materials were designed and selected to create the warm character of a north country lodge, making its users feel welcome and comfortable.