The Savannah College of Art and Design is comprised of rehabilitated historic buildings scattered throughout downtown and midtown Savannah, Ga. The architectural history department occupies Pepe Hall, along with the art history department.







Pepe Hall overlooks historic Chatham Square in the southwest corner of downtown Savannah, an area defined by the many Greek Revival and Italianate 1850s townhouses. Pepe Hall, formerly the Barnard Street School, was erected in 1906 and  was designed by Atlanta architect Gottfrid L. Norrman. An earlier and smaller Barnard Street School of 1854 had been used by General Sherman's Union Army as a military hospital during the Civil War. 










The current two-story, 20,759 square-foot Mediterranean Revival style building is characterized by a battered brick basement, central tapering bell tower above the entrance portico and a dramatic hipped terracotta tile roof. The building was purchased by SCAD in 1988 and dedicated in honor of trustees Charles W. and Marie H. Pepe in 2001.

 



The 12 original elementary school classrooms in Pepe Hall now serve as lecture and seminar classrooms and are outfitted with digital projection equipment.  The building also accommodates the architectural history departmental and faculty offices and information boards.