Continuing a tradition of Benedictine outreach in Savannah dating to 1874, this campus replaced the school’s former location on Bull Street, where it had been since 1902 (see 12.1). The complex is one of the most significant examples of modern architecture in Georgia, described by preservation consultant Robert A. Ciucevich as “a rare example of a complete modern campus with intact buildings and landscapes.” Georgia Tech graduate Bertotto worked with Thomas, Driscoll, and Hutton to celebrate Bauhaus-inspired modernism that also follows elements of the classical tradition, an essential hallmark of the then-popular New Formalist language. The harmonious yet distinct buildings are arranged around an open-sided quadrangle reminiscent of a medieval cloister, where a covered walk of concrete block posts and repeated “butterfly” prestressed concrete arches evoke the traditional arcade.
The central classroom and administration building establishes important stylistic and material themes that are repeated throughout the campus, including a slightly raised floor plane for the buildings (which are reached by a set of floating concrete treads), reliance on steel railings and columns complementing concrete block walls, the systematic variety in how the concrete blocks are laid, the use of striated brick veneer and such high-quality details as terrazzo flooring and features like aluminum grilles throughout. Inside, the central building features a sunken “well” at the crossing of the building’s central axes, a powerful space where school assemblies and special guest events are held.
Anchoring the north end of the quadrangle, the gymnasium is the campus’s tallest and most prominent building. A gently curving structure, it is characterized by a deeply cantilevered second story with a richly modeled surface alternating brick and smooth concrete, which houses a former locker room above, serving as a kind of portico and honoring the alumni who gave their lives in the two world wars. It is both muscular with huge steel braces and delicate with literal glasshouses at its base. The gym behind is a proud functionalist box with exposed steel framing and a dramatic clear span on the interior.
The monastery and priory chapel, as requisite components of the Benedictine monastic order, occupy the south end of the quadrangle, connected by a covered walk but separated by an expanse of lawn from the other buildings, heightening their special status and distinction. While part of the overall composition, every detail of the cloister and chapel complex is distinct. The windows of the cloister’s buildings and communal spaces are narrow round-arched projections. Inside, dark wood boards are used as vertically louvered screening to demarcate rooms from passages. The monastic cloister is privately sequestered and a bright open garden space. A bridgelike enclosure leads to the ten-sided central-plan brick and concrete chapel, which is surrounded by an expansive and meditative moat of water. Inside, a centrally positioned altar, notably predating liturgical changes inspired by the Second Vatican Council, is set in a lower central space, with finely crafted wood screens dividing it from a surrounding raised ambulatory level. Every detail is refined to be simple yet spiritually evocative. The blocks of concrete comprising the walls are subtly laid with repetitive patterns and regular projections. The furniture is steel, echoing the character of pieces used throughout the campus complex, but of a finer detail. Forceful concrete piers rise up to form a radial pattern overhead reminiscent of a Gothic ribbed vault.
Bertotto also designed the nearby U.S. Army National Guard Center (1961) and the Chatham County Health Department (1962), both located on Eisenhower Drive at numbers 1248 and 1395, respectively.