Project Spotlight: Settlement Music School in Willow Grove, PA

Words: Bronzella Cleveland
The School’s exterior is clad in four-inch ground face architectural block veneer.

Sponsored content

Settlement Music School is the largest community school of the arts in the United States, with locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Settlement’s mission is to provide the highest quality instruction in music and the related arts to children and adults, regardless of age, background, ability or economic circumstances.

The School’s Willow Grove facility provides 29 classrooms and the Leonard Mellman Recital Hall that can seat 400 spectators or serve as a studio for dance programs.

The School’s exterior is clad in four-inch ground face architectural block veneer, which provides a beautiful and resilient finish. The block design called for contrasting gray and white colors, which required superior strength and consistency over traditional CMUs.

Ground face masonry units provide an eye-catching, polished look that exposes the interior matrix of the block. Both the gray and white ground face block produced by Fizzano Bros. Concrete Products were made using Lehigh White Cement (on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lehighwhitecement/?fref=nf). While standard gray cement might get close to the color, it would not provide the superior uniformity of color and excellent early strength gained by using white portland cement.

Project team:
Architect | George von Scheven
General Contractor | TN Ward
Mason Contractor | Connelly Construction Corp.
Block Manufacturer | Fizzano Bros. Concrete Products

Save

Save

Gables Republic Square & Hotel ZaZa
September 2026

Gables Republic Square / Hotel ZaZa is a 24-story mixed-use boutique hotel and urban residential tower with street-level retail located on a 0.75-acre site in downtown Austin. Camarata Masonry Systems, Ltd. (CMS) was responsible for the supply and instal

The Science of a Straight Line: Why Masonry’s Smallest Decisions Make the Biggest Differences
September 2026

There is a unique phenomenon in construction: the human eye can spot an out-of-plumb wall from 50 yards away across a crowded job site. We might not always be able to explain the exact mathematical deviation without a laser level, but our brains instantly

The Utah Masonry Council's Masonry Education Day
September 2026

The 2026 Masonry Education Day at Interstate Brick in West Jordan is bringing together members of Utah’s architecture, engineering, and construction community for a day focused on education, technical understanding, and workforce development. The event r

MCAA Upstate New York: Regaining Market Share Through Education
September 2026

The Upstate New York chapter of the MCAA was established in 2014 by a dedicated group of both union and non-union masonry contractors, producers, and suppliers who shared concerns about the declining use of masonry. T