Opening Day at Flores Hall

October 01, 2015

Opening Day for the St. John’s School marked the first day of Flores Hall in the service of the St. John’s Community.  On August 19th, students and faculty were served breakfast in the new 10,000 square foot Dining Hall.  Together with  building contractor  W.S. Bellows Construction and project architect Kendall/Heaton Associates, a building of superior craftsmanship met both schedule and budgetary targets.

Original campus buildings by architect Hiram A. Salisbury were designed in a gentle Collegiate Gothic style, of cut Texas limestone and scaled to the surrounding residences in the neighborhood.  Limestone for the new building was sourced from the same Texas quarry as the existing buildings and carved by W. W. Bartlett Inc.   The clay tile roof was salvaged in part from Winston Hall before it was demolished to make way for the new campus center, and also from a nearby building that coincidentally had the same tile roof.  Circa Lighting Inc. fabricated the custom-designed, six-foot diameter brass chandeliers, along with the sconces and ceiling pendants in the dining hall.  Also on the project were longtime Curtis & Windham collaborators Texas Timber Frames, Berger Ironworks Inc., and Hayes Carpentry.

A video of opening day in Flores hall shows the new dining hall filled with students and faculty exploring the space for the first time.  For fast facts about the project, see St. John’s School news page.