Trail System for New Hitchcock Center Building

After nearly 8 years of planning and fundraising, the spectacular new Hitchcock Center building at Hampshire College is ready for occupancy and for the Center’s grand opening on October 1, 2016. The building is one of the first Living Building Challenge structures in the country, and is a model of net-zero water and energy conservation. The architect for the project is Design Lab Architects of Boston and the builder is Wright Builders of Northampton.

A key part of the Hitchcock Center’s new facility is the trail system, designed and built by Conservation Works under contract with Hitchcock. The trails form three distinct loops, each running through different ecological types from open field to scenic woods to wetland edges. The trails will be used for educational programs and were approved by Hampshire College as part of Hampshire and Hitchcock Center’s joint Access Plan. Hitchcock also hopes that the trail will connect with a larger “Cultural Trail System,” also being planned by Conservation Works, that will link the College and Hitchcock with several partner organizations in the Atkins Corner neighborhood and with trail systems on the Holyoke Range and around the Hadley Reservoirs.