Precedent 3- Green Chimneys

Location: 400 Doansburg Road, Box 719 Brewster, NY 10509-0719

Architect: Perkins Eastman Architects PC

Principal in Charge: Aaron B. Schwarz

Interior Designer: Perkins Eastman Architects PC

Engineer: Severud Associates, Insite Engineering, and Gerard Associates

Overall square footage: 27,500 square feet

Total Construction Cost: $6.1 million

Environmental Influences: Green Chimney’s residential treatment center is located on a 150 acre farm in Putnam County, New York providing an ideal environment for a nature based therapeutic and educational program.

Physical Parameters:
Context: With the financial backing of S. Bernard Ross, M.D., a 75 acre dairy farm in the Town of Patterson, Putnam County, New York, was purchased by a widow of the New York State Senator Ward Tolbert on October 27, 1947. The farm, in the Town of Patterson, Putnam County, NY was to operate as a boarding and day school and summer camp for children between the ages of 3-6 where children could interact with farm animals. The property has since expanded to nearly 200 acres with an additional 350 acres at Clearpool Education Center. The name Green


Chimneys Farm for Little Folk was changed to Green Chimneys School for Little Folk to better describe the program.
Concept for Project: Green Chimneys is the nationally renowned, nonprofit organization with a mission of restoring possibilities and creating futures for children with emotional, behavioral, social and learning challenges through educational, therapeutic and outreach services, while providing care for animals and nature, thereby promoting a philosophy of dignity and worth for all living things.

Special Factors or Challenges: As new programs were being offered in the 80’s, the school and agency experienced four years of deficits, the result of program expenses and delay in funding for new programs. A lesson learned was that it is difficult to add new programs without start-up money and reserves.




List of all Spaces:
Green Chimneys School: The administrative building is centrally located, with classroom buildings on either side. A covered walkway connects the three buildings, creating a "front porch" for a central green. The buildings are solidly built, a necessary requirement for the education and care of 150 middle-school-aged, high energy children. Two classroom buildings are housed under the two-story barrel roof portions of the building, flanking shared resources including library, science rooms, and flexible project rooms.
Green Chimneys School provides residential, social, and educational services for emotionally disturbed children on a 150-acre farm. Its philosophy is predicated on the belief that given the responsibilities of caring for animals, troubled children can regain self-respect, and learn to trust and love.
The architect designed three new academic structures for the school, and made renovations to existing buildings on the rural residential campus. The scale and massing of the buildings fit within the context of the surrounding farm, which is composed of small residential and barn buildings.
-Woodshop, Classrooms, library, pool, kitchen, playground, lab rooms, outdoor gardens, farm, kenneling, gym, etc.
Residential Treatment Facility: David Hall, the Green Chimneys is a 14 bed psychiatric residential treatment facility on the grounds of the Green Chimneys Brewster Campus.
-Bedrooms, Game Room, Kitchen, Living room, Dining room

Summary: The aspects that I have drawn from this organization was not so much the interior design part of it, but the information gathered in regards to the animal assisted therapy activities and the fact that they are a non-profit organization. The main difference between Spirit Gardens and Green Chimneys is that they focus on children with disabilities and Spirit Gardens focuses on adults with Cancer, but both are intended to heal in other ways rather than medically. The residential treatment facility has helped me with square footage amounts and the design for my residential space.