Lawrenceville School Breaks Ground On Design Center

LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, NJ — The Gruss Center for Art and Design (GCAD), a new creative design center and maker space is coming to The Lawrenceville School. The center’s Hutchins Galleries are also being renovated, and a groundbreaking for this project took place on Oct. 26, the school announced.

Martin and Audrey Gruss are the principal benefactors of the project and participated in the groundbreaking, as did Glenn Hutchins, benefactor with his wife, Deborah, of the Hutchins Galleries through the Hutchins Family Foundation.

Gruss, who graduated from the school in 1960, and Hutchins, who graduated from the school in 1973, are trustees emeriti. The Lawrenceville School Board of Trustees and the school’s administrators also attended the ceremony.

The project includes a comprehensive renovation of the existing Gruss Center of Visual Arts, a fine arts classroom building and gallery space, and a 15,000-square-foot expansion of the building footprint. The design reflects best practices in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education, informed by site visits to corporate innovation hubs, Stanford University’s “d.School,” and similar facilities at Yale and MIT. The project also incorporates improvements to the Center’s Hutchins Galleries and the creation of climate-controlled storage space for the School’s extensive fine art collection.

“The vision for this renovation reflects our commitment to S.T.E.A.M. instruction as preparation for the way our students will need to think in the 21st century,” Lawrenceville School Head Master Steve Murray said. “The new facility will provide them with the tools and opportunities to become inspired problem-solvers and creative explorers of art, science, and technology. We are enormously grateful for this significant investment in the future of learning at Lawrenceville.”

The expansion will transform the facade of the Gruss Center with floor-to-ceiling glass panels and the interior with new wood and metal finishes, creating a cutting-edge workspace flanked by the galleries at one end and studio space at the other.

New facilities will include a clean fabrication lab, digital design rooms, and a large flexible project room for ideation and rapid prototyping; wood and metal shops; and collaborative workstations to support team projects.

“Lawrenceville’s plan to blend the principles of technology and design to create a center for innovation offered a thrilling opportunity,” Gruss said. “The visual arts building provided the ideal site for this exciting new venture, and Audrey and I feel fortunate to be able to support the School’s vision.”

“I want to congratulate and thank Martin and Audrey Gruss on this amazing contribution and their long history of support for art and design at Lawrenceville,” Hutchins said. “My wife, Debbie, and I are pleased to be their partners in creating this place where Lawrentians can quite literally build the future.”

“I want to congratulate and thank Martin and Audrey Gruss on this amazing contribution and their long history of support for art and design at Lawrenceville. My wife, Debbie, and I are pleased to be their partners in creating this place where Lawrentians can quite literally build the future.”

Founded in 1810, The Lawrenceville School is located on 700 acres in the historic village of Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The School currently serves 817 students from 30 states and 34 countries.

The attached image was provided by The Lawrenceville School: From left to right: Lawrenceville School Head Master Steve Murray, Audrey Gruss, Martin Gruss, Glenn Hutchins, and Lawrenceville School Board of Trustees President Michael Chae.