Serving Students in the Walker Building
Nearly 120 years after the first students and faculty moved into the Walker Building, the building is again at the heart of campus. In August 2017 the William H. White, Jr. Library moved to the Walker Building. The library, located in the new Reynolds Family Learning Commons and Dunnington Reading Room, has been reshaped to meet the modern needs of students.
The renovations preserve an important piece of the school’s history and upgrade critical infrastructure. Beneath the library is a new student center where boys have the space to gather in larger groups. This space, linked to Tiger Square and the lawn, will draw students out of their rooms and give them a communal place where they can mix with boys from other dorms or forms. The new student center also containts the renovated and expanded Fir Tree, which, unsurprisingly, has been an immediate hit with the boys. The new Fir Tree has extra seating capacity indoors and on the new Class of 2020 Fir Tree Patio. There are new offices and meeting spaces for student clubs, gear storage and a bike repair shop for the growing Outdoor Education program, and space where boys can collaborate and explore academic and extracurricular interests.
The work also provides much needed upgrades to the dorm spaces. Walker Building remains the school’s largest dormitory, housing more than 120 students,
including the entire fourth form. The renovation work brought these dorms in line with the housing experience in newer or recently renovated buildings.
Since Captain Walker and his sons first sought to develop a school with ambitions of growing beyond a small schoolhouse behind The Residence, the Walker Building has been the heart of Woodberry Forest. Nearly every Woodberry alumnus has eaten meals in the Reynolds Family Dining Room and lived in the building’s dorms. It is virtually impossible to imagine Woodberry Forest without the Walker Building at the heart of campus life. This restoration and modernization will anchor the campus around Walker Building and allow us to better serve the boys who live, study, and play there.