Sarasota firm Sweet Sparkman Architecture & Interiors has been announced as the winner of the “Reimagining Pei” architectural competition led by New College of Florida and Architecture Sarasota, which aims to incorporate the east campus dorms into an athletic and recreational complex with retail and restaurants.  

Designed in the 1960s, the dorms are historically significant and a rare local example of Brutalist architecture by Pei, the architect behind the Pyramide du Louvre at the Louvre Museum in Paris and the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. Pei passed away in 2019 at 102 years old. In 2018, the dormitories were named one of the 50 most significant mid-century modern structures in the state. However, they’re not listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and were recently nominated for this year’s Six to Save list, spearheaded by the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, a local nonprofit committed to education, advocacy and the saving of local significant buildings. 

Beloved by architecture aficionados, what may be most important of all is the dorms' importance to New College students, who call the palm tree studded court between the buildings, “the 'Center of the Universe,'” according to Architecture Sarasota president Morris "Marty" Hylton. 

“There's a strong connection to it and it’s what about what happens there. For decades, they've been the central point for gatherings and parties,” he says.

The push behind the competition also took root after an engineer’s report, published in May, cited mold and moisture damage in the dorms as concerns that could impact students’ health. New College moved students slated to live in them to nearby hotels.

The design competition invited architects far and wide to readapt the dorms, and three finalists presented their concepts on Nov. 15 at the New College's Mildred Sainer Pavilion with more than 200 students, faculty, staff and locals in attendance.

Announced in September, the finalists who presented their work last week were Los Angeles-based Brooks + Scarpa,  STUDIOS Architecture, which is based in France and the U.S., and Sweet Sparkman.

“All three finalists were amazing, offering a visionary reimagining of the Pei dorms and surrounding areas of the campus. The work put forth was mind-blowing,” says New College president Richard Corcoran. “I'm grateful so many members of the New College community and our local community took the time to review the presentations and offer their feedback.” 

The winner was originally scheduled to be announced on Nov. 17 but was pushed to Nov. 21 so the public could weigh in via an online survey. In just three days, more than 300 people sent in their feedback. Still, while that feedback was taken into account, picking a winner was foremost an internal deliberation. 

The concepts were judged on five broad criteria, including overall design, adaptation of existing structure, functionality, feasibility, and user experience. There were 35 entries from architects and firms across the globe, and the three finalists each received $10,000 from the New College Foundation to further develop their design concepts. The complex already has a swimming pool but will eventually include a gymnasium, fields, and courts for baseball, soccer, lacrosse, tennis and pickleball to meet the needs of the college’s new athletic programs.

“We thought out circulation and shading, and more useful, practical and exciting ways of approaching the space, and of course respected Pei’s original architecture and intent,” says Sweet Sparkman principal architect and co-founder Todd Sweet. “We’re ecstatic. It’s an international competition with very reputable, talented firms, and it’s such a confidence booster to see this level of design here locally.” 

Photographer Jet Lowe, 77, who lived in the dorms while attending New College, will be in Sarasota next month to photograph the dorms in their current, original state to document them and keep a permanent record of them at the National Library of Congress. Lowe was employed by the U.S. National Park Service on the Historic American Buildings Survey and Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) projects and recorded significant and often threatened American industrial sites.

But the Pei dorms are just one slice of what’s to come to New College, while a larger master plan, with design led by  Sarasota-based Hall Darling Design Studio, is being carved out. In the coming months, the college will kick off its first master plan internal meeting and public meetings will follow.

But because New College is a Florida state institution, a procurement process must be followed. That means that just because Sweet Sparkman was chosen as the winner of the competition, it won't necessarily be the architectural firm on the project.

“We have to put out a request for proposal (RFP), and the architects will be invited to be part of that process," says Marcia Crawley, vice president of campus design and other projects at New College of Florida. "Although there’s a winner [of the Reimagining Pei competition], another architect could respond to an RFP. It’s an ideas concepts competition first."

“We ensured all the entrants understood and received public accolades but we can’t promise the project," she continues. "But they’ve invested time and energy and they’ll be in the best position to present a great proposal."

We'll keep you posted on what comes next. In the meantime, let's take a look at the finalists' submissions.

Sweet Sparkman Interiors & Architecture (Winner)

Brooks+Scarpa

STUDIOS Architecture

“Demolition was initially a line item in the budget. But for Architecture Sarasota this demonstrates the value of collaboration and good design thinking and how to give an old building new life,” Hylton says. “We've gone from discussing demolition (it was initially a line item in the budget) to a place where everyone sees these bold concepts and the Pei dorms not as a challenge but as an opportunity and catalyst for reimagining the campus in total.”

Architecture Sarasota will kick off an exhibition of the three finalist’s design concepts on Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m. Click here for updates. For more on each firm, click here.