The Richmond CenterStage opened in 1928 in the Virginia capital as a grand movie palace named Loew’s Theatre. It was reinvented in 1983 as a performing arts center known as Carpenter Theatre and hobbled along until 2004, when the crumbling venue was mercifully shuttered. There were plans for a comprehensive historic restoration but the funding never materialized.
The complex was finally started on its path toward restoration in 2007, when the Richmond CenterStage Foundation secured the $62.2 million necessary to finance the rehab.
With the Building Team of Wilson Butler Architects and Gilbane/Christman (CM) at the helm, the 148,245-sf historic theater wasn’t simply restored: It was reimagined, enlarged, and upgraded. The new 179,000-sf complex became home to four venues:
• Carpenter Theatre: the fully restored, original 1,760-seat auditorium with enlarged stage and an expanded lobby area.
• Gottwald Playhouse: a 200-seat black box theater.
• Genworth BrightLights Education Center: a training space for aspiring thespians.
• Rhythm Hall: a multipurpose venue.
The building’s extra square footage came from annexing the former six-story Thalhimers Department Store (circa 1939) adjacent to the theater, demolishing parts of the building, and gutting the remainder. The former retail space was transformed into the additional performance and education venues, offices, dressing rooms, and other support spaces.
The conjoined buildings featured a variety of exterior materials, notably brick, terra cotta, and limestone, all in need of attention. The façades were repaired, two new curtain walls were installed in portions of the complex, and new windows and storefront systems were added along one side. Inside, modern acoustical, lighting, rigging, and building system improvements were installed.
The project reopened in September 2009 and became what Walker C. Johnson, FAIA, principal at Johnson Lasky Architects, Chicago, and honorary chair of BD+C’s Reconstruction Awards panel, called “a real sparkler in downtown Richmond.” BD+C
PROJECT SUMMARY
Building Team
Submitting firm: Gilbane/Christman (CM)
Owner/developer: City of Richmond
Architect: Wilson Butler Architects
MEP engineer: Girard Engineering
Structural engineer: Dunbar, Milby, Williams, Pittman and Vaughan
General Information
Size: 179,000 gsf
Construction cost: $62.2 million
Construction period: June 2007 to September 2009
Delivery method: CM at risk
Related Stories
| Oct 12, 2010
Building 13 Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Gold Award. Designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt and constructed in 1903, Building 13 is one of 39 structures within the Great Lakes Historic District at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill.
| Oct 12, 2010
Full Steam Ahead for Sustainable Power Plant
An innovative restoration turns a historic but inoperable coal-burning steam plant into a modern, energy-efficient marvel at Duke University.
| Oct 12, 2010
From ‘Plain Box’ to Community Asset
The Mid-Ohio Foodbank helps provide 55,000 meals a day to the hungry. Who would guess that it was once a nondescript mattress factory?
| Oct 11, 2010
HGA wins 25-Year Award from AIA Minnesota
HGA Architects and Engineers won a 25-Year Award from AIA Minnesota for the Willow Lake Laboratory.
| Oct 11, 2010
MBMA Releases Fire Resistance Design Guide for metal building systems
The Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) announces the release of the 2010 Fire Resistance Design Guide for Metal Building Systems. The guide provides building owners, architects, engineers, specifiers, fire marshals, building code officials, contractors, product vendors, builders and metal building manufacturers information on how to effectively meet fire resistance requirements of a project with metal building systems.
| Oct 11, 2010
Rhode Island is the first state to adopt IGCC
Rhode Island is the first state to adopt the International Green Construction Code (IGCC). The Rhode Island Green Buildings Act identifies the IGCC as an equivalent standard in compliance with requirements that all public agency major facility projects be designed and constructed as green buildings. The Rules and Regulations to implement the Act take effect in October 2010.
| Oct 8, 2010
Union Bank’S San Diego HQ awarded LEED Gold
Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building located at 530 B Street has been awarded LEED Gold certification from the Green Building Certification Institute under the standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Gold status was awarded to six buildings across the United States in the most recent certification and Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building is one of only two in California.
| Oct 6, 2010
Windows Keep Green Goals in View
The DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has almost 600 window openings, and yet it's targeting LEED Platinum, net-zero energy use, and 50% improvement over ASHRAE 90.1. How the window ‘problem’ is part of the solution.
| Oct 6, 2010
From grocery store to culinary school
A former West Philadelphia supermarket is moving up the food chain, transitioning from grocery store to the Center for Culinary Enterprise, a business culinary training school.
| Sep 30, 2010
Luxury hotels lead industry in green accommodations
Results from the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2010 Lodging Survey showed that luxury and upper-upscale hotels are most likely to feature green amenities and earn green certifications. Results were tallied from 8,800 respondents, for a very respectable 18% response rate. Questions focused on 14 green-related categories, including allergy-free rooms, water-saving programs, energy management systems, recycling programs, green certification, and green renovation.
