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
| Feb 10, 2012
Atlanta Housing Authority taps Johnson Controls to improve public housing efficiency
Energy-efficiency program to improve 13 senior residential care facilities and save nearly $18 million.
| Feb 10, 2012
Besculides joins New York Office of Perkins Eastman as associate principal
Besculides joins with more than 17 years’ experience in design, business development, and account management for the government, healthcare, and corporate practice areas with a particular focus on the financial and media sectors.
| Feb 10, 2012
Mortenson Construction research identifies healthcare industry and facility design trends
The 2012 Mortenson Construction Healthcare Industry Study includes insights and perspectives regarding government program concerns, the importance of lean operations, flexible facility design, project delivery trends, improving patient experience, and evidence-based design.
| Feb 10, 2012
LAX Central Utility Plant project tops out
Construction workers placed the final structural steel beam atop the Plant, which was designed with strict seismic criteria to help protect the facility and airport utilities during an earthquake.
| Feb 8, 2012
Nauset completes addition and renovation for Winchester senior living community
Theater, library, fitness center, and bistro enhance facility.
| Feb 8, 2012
Mega-malls expanding internationally
Historically, malls have always been the icons of America – the first mall ever was built in Minneapolis in 1956.
| Feb 8, 2012
World’s tallest solar PV-installation
The solar array is at the elevation of 737 feet, making the building the tallest in the world with a solar PV-installation on its roof.
| Feb 7, 2012
AIA introduces seven new contract documents to Documents-On-Demand service??
AIA Contract Documents are widely-used standard form contracts among the building industry to support construction and design projects.
| Feb 7, 2012
Data center construction boom driven by healthcare and technology
The study includes insight and perspective regarding current investment plans of stakeholders, potential challenges to the data center boom, data center efficiency levels, the impact of new designs and technologies, and delivery methods.
| Feb 7, 2012
Kawneer and Traco combine portfolios
Portfolio includes curtain wall systems, windows, entrances and framing systems.
