In each issue of Building Design+Construction, we feature the latest new construction and renovation projects in a section called, On the Drawing Board. Here, we have assembled eight of the most notable cultural facility projects currently in the works. They include a soaring opera center in Hong Kong, a multi-tower music center in Calgary, and a massive expansion to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. Check them out below.
1. NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE UNITES ELEMENTS OF CANADIAN MUSIC
Allied Works Architecture is designing the National Music Centre, a project on the site of the historic King Edward Hotel and music venue in Calgary. The 160,000-sf museum, performance space, and teaching facility will combine new construction plus adaptive reuse of the “King Eddy,” ultimately comprising nine towers connected by pathways that bridge a major street. The old hotel will be completely refurbished, and will house a radio station, recording studios, classrooms, and performance and exhibition spaces. A new five-story building across the street will include museum and performance space. Also on the Building Team: Kasian (associate architect), Haley Sharpe Design (exhibition design), Fisher Dachs Associates (theater design), and CANA (CM).
2. DESIGN PARTNERSHIP TO CONDUCT PLANS FOR HONG KONG OPERA CENTER
Bing Thom Architects and Ronald Lu & Partners Company Ltd. have been chosen to design the Xiqu Centre, in Hong Kong. The opera center, scheduled to open in 2016, will be the first of 17 core arts and cultural venues to open in the West Kowloon Cultural District. The facility will include two auditoriums, with 1,100 and 400 seats, and a 280-seat teahouse, as well as training and educational facilities for the creation and development of Chinese and Cantonese opera works.
3. FORT LAUDERDALE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER TO GET UPGRADE
A joint venture between Stiles and Miller Construction Co. is renovating and expanding the 20-year-old Broward Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The 18-month upgrade is phased and planned to keep the center’s schedule of performances running smoothly while new amenities, a two-story waterfront pavilion, and terraced dining areas are added. A three-story arts education wing that will face Avenue of the Arts is also in the works. Wilson Butler Architects designed the project, with Jacobs Engineering Group as project manager.
4. NEW HOTEL, MUSEUM EXPANSION UNDER WAY IN MUSIC CITY
Brasfield & Gorrie is building the Omni Nashville Hotel and an addition to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville. The project, totaling 1.4 million sf, includes an 800-room hotel and 225,000-sf expansion to the Hall of Fame. The facility will encompass a ballroom, music venues, and restaurants. LEED Silver is targeted. Also on the Building Team: HKS (architect) and Earl Swennson Associates (associate architect).
5. NORTHWESTERN'S MUSIC SCHOOL AWAITS NEW HOME ON EVANSTON CAMPUS
The new home of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music will be located just south of the school’s Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on the southeastern edge of the Evanston campus. The 152,000-sf building will feature a 400-seat recital hall and a 150-seat opera rehearsal room-cum-black box theater. The project is slated to achieve at least LEED Silver certification. Building Team: Goettsch Partners (architect), Thornton Tomasetti (structural engineer), Cosentini Associates (MEP engineer), and Power Construction (general contractor). Planned completion: 2015.
6. ARTISTS AND VISITORS GO WITH THE FLOW AT NEW CONTEMPORARY ART INSTITUTE
The new Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, is designed to facilitate the way artists work today. Designed by Chris McVoy and Steven Holl of Steven Holl Architects, New York, N.Y., the 38,000-sf building will be part exhibition and performance space, part lab and incubator, fit to hold programming from visual art to theater to film. At the heart of the building will be a double-height “forum,” a flexible space that links the three levels of galleries. This floor plan will allow artists to create work that extends across spaces and permit visitors to circulate through the space via a variety of paths. BCWH Architects are the local architects on the project.
7. MARYLAND LIBRARY WILL HOUSE BOOKS WITH A SIDE OF ART
With a 22-month completion plan, The Lukmire Partnership (architect) and Costello Construction (general contractor) have teamed up to complete the 70,000-sf Silver Spring (Md.) Library. The five-story facility will house nonprofit art group Pyramid Atlantic in the basement and on the first two floors, with the library occupying floors three through five. The $35 million library, which is targeting LEED Silver certification, will feature all-glass curtain wall. A combined escalator system with ornamental staircase will be the focal point of the interior.
8. MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE LIBRARY TO GET MAKEOVER
Medgar Evers College, a City University of New York (CUNY), is planning a $11 million renovation and addition to its 45,720-sf library in Brooklyn. The school commissioned ikon.5 Architects (architect) and MBI Group (general contractor) to head up the project, which will transform the 1980s facility into a contemporary information media commons. The 2,000-SF Welcome Center addition will feature a cafe with a full-height electronic media display, terrazzo floor, and bamboo-clad entry.
Related Stories
Architects | Jan 4, 2017
The making of visible experts: A path for seller-doers in the AEC industry
Exceptional seller-doers have the ability to ask the right questions, and more importantly, listen.
Building Team | Jan 3, 2017
How does your firm’s hit rate stack up to the AEC competition?
If your firm is not converting at least a third of project proposals when competing for new work, it may be time to reassess your marketing tactics and processes.
Architects | Dec 9, 2016
Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects receives the 2017 AIA Architecture Firm Award
LMSA is the 54th AIA Architecture Firm Award recipient.
| Dec 8, 2016
Paul Revere Williams, FAIA, awarded 2017 AIA Gold Medal
The Gold Medal honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.
Building Team | Dec 8, 2016
The NYC Public Design Commission recognizes 12 projects with its 2016 Excellence in Design Award
2016 marked the 34th year the Public Design Commission has handed out its Excellence in Design Awards.
Education Facilities | Dec 7, 2016
How corporate design keeps educational design relevant
Learning is a lot like working; it varies daily, ranges from individual to collaborative, formal to informal and from hands on to digital.
| Dec 6, 2016
Workplace pilots: Test. Learn. Build
Differentiated from mock-ups or beta sites, workplace pilots are small scale built work environments, where an organization’s employees permanently reside and work on a daily basis.
Building Team | Dec 2, 2016
Alexandria Real Estate Equities becomes first real estate investment trust to be named a First-in-Class Fitwel Champion
Fitwel building certification was developed to foster positive impacts on building occupant health and productivity through improvements to workplace design and policies.
Government Buildings | Dec 1, 2016
Unlocking innovation in the government workplace
Government work settings ranked the lowest in their effectiveness across the four work modes: focus (individual) work, collaboration, socializing (informal gathering that fosters trust and teamwork) and learning.
Architects | Nov 20, 2016
D.C.’s first distillery-eatery taps into a growing trend
The stylish location targets customers craving craft spirits and late-night dining.
