Town of Pelham Municipal Center

The Town of Pelham, New Hampshire was burdened with outdated municipal offices, an inadequate police station and a library that had not increased in size since 1896. Bread Loaf’s thorough planning, innovative design and cost-conscious construction gave Pelham residents something more important than just new and renovated buildings, it gave them a renewed pride in their community.

Before selecting Bread Loaf, Pelham had labored through years of planning studies. The Municipal Building Committee, the Board of Selectmen, and finally the Pelham voters resoundingly approved Bread Loaf’s novel planning concept to reuse and adapt the soon-to-be-abandoned Sherburne School. 

As part of the new Municipal Center, Bread Loaf renovated a portion of the elementary school into a state-of-the-art police facility. This project provided 15,000 square feet of completely renovated space with 6,800 square feet for future growth. The facility included a two-bay sallyport, communications center, training room, radio tower, community room.

Included in the existing building complex was the Pelham school building, a two-story frame building from 1920. Since the remaining complex was all on one level, improving the small second floor to acceptable code and ADA standards was not cost effective. Instead, Bread Loaf worked with the client to create an open mezzanine area for record storage. This limited the square footage of the upper level to a code acceptable threshold. The result was an open and airy public space, which showcased the interior of the original school building, creating an Town Office building that the public enjoys visiting.

The Library Trustees asked that their new library reflect the coziness of the small town and yet have the functional capability of a modern library. In response, the library design included a welcoming front porch at the head of the town green, a high ceiling living room for the older generation to continue their tradition of daily newspaper reading; a second floor for the growing number of children and teens using the library after school; and a separate “community room” that is accessible when the library is closed. The library is designed for a second phase expansion to occur with minimal disruption to the existing facility.

Using Bread Loaf’s Integrated Design-Build approach, Bread Loaf held the cost of construction under the cap approved by Pelham voters. The Town chose to reinvest its savings in higher quality finishes for all buildings.