Linda L. Bean Conference Center — Michael G. Imber Architects

Scarlet Oaks, the 1930s Delaware Valley mansion built for steel baron William Alexander Worth, has long served as the headquarters of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, an educational nonprofit.

When the institute decided to add a conference center to its Wilmington campus, it called upon Michael G. Imber Architects to create an addition that is complementary in composition and scale to the mansion, which was on land that had at one point been part of the Thomas Coleman du Pont estate.

The Linda L. Bean Conference Center was named after its benefactress, the heiress to the L.L. Bean company, who was an active participant in the project until her death in 2024.

The architectural team, led by Partner Mac White, AIA, took advantage of the site, which is surrounded by rolling hills and dense forests, creating an events space that showcases the views yet gracefully recedes into the scenery.

“A major focus was how to create a new building that fits well with the headquarters and does not compete with or overwhelm the scale of the existing building,” White says.

Taking cues from the materiality of the local vernacular architecture and the Georgian details of the mansion, the conference center reads like a natural addition.

“We used reclaimed stone from the Brandywine region to match stone taken from the historic quarries of the area and used reclaimed local granite curbs for our larger opening headers,” White says. “And we looked at local precedents to match the existing patina of the headquarters roof.”

The exterior and interior trim and paneling were inspired by local du Pont properties, he adds, selected to “capture the spirit of the historic homes of the Wilmington area.”

The conference center comprises a welcoming, residentially scaled foyer, a connecting paneled gallery and pavilion-like light-filled coffered-ceiling events hall that is scaled to provide flexible public spaces that can transition from large meetings and lectures to more intimate seminars for scholars and members of the institute, whose robust programming includes student internships.

“It was important that the entry for the center stand alone as a pavilion, adjacent to the neighboring building, which helped to disguise the scale of the old-estate casino-like form of the event hall,” White says. “This also allowed the design to work with the topography sloping off toward the Hoopes Reservoir that allowed for a mechanical room and fire-suppression storage tanks to be housed under the building.”

The focal point of the hall is a central bay that’s defined by three, large arched windows under a polychrome coffered vault that look out to the forest and reservoir and frame the center of the room. At each end of the room, squared openings mark bays that offer more intimate seating arrangements.

At the north end of the hall, a scalloped arch and column screen open to an apsidal bay, creating a sitting room with views of the landscape. This is set within the playful framework where walls step and turn with capitals expressing implied orders.

To the south, glazed doors open through a pilaster screen to a matching apsidal porch that steps down to a terrace and events lawn that’s surrounded by the forest.

The porch, which has a copper half-domed roof, sits on steel columns. Its supporting iron frieze of interlocking circles was inspired by the historic iron railings on the mansion.

The entry court, the courtyard and the events lawn expand the convention center’s stage, providing additional outdoor space for day-to-day operations as well as special events.

The convention center incorporates several elements directly and explicitly provided by Bean. The red-oak flooring was harvested from lands she owned in Maine, and the antique King of Prussia marble fireplace surround, which is in the foyer and is crowned by a bust of George Washington in a niche within the coved ceiling, was sourced by her. 

 The decorative iron detailing, the slate roofing, the cut-stone columns, the reclaimed local field stone and the detailed white-oak millwork tie the project to its landscape, the history of the property and the rich tradition of American building arts in this region.

“The convention center has changed the way the organization operates,” White says. “The institute has more opportunities to host different kinds of events, and it gives them a more public voice and makes it possible for future community use.” TB