flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

New arts venue reinvigorates Virginia Tech's campus

Building Team Awards

New arts venue reinvigorates Virginia Tech's campus

The STV-led Building Team creates a world-class performance and arts venue with learning and entrepreneurial dimensions.


By John Caulfield, Senior Editor | April 10, 2015
New arts venue reinvigorates Virginia Tech's campus

The new arts venue at Virginia Tech is the ninth building on campus to be LEED-certified. Jeff Goldberg/Esto Photographics Inc.

This article first appeared in the April 2015 issue of BD+C.

The Moss Arts Center—named in honor of the landscape painter Patricia Buckley Moss—is the ninth building on Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus to be LEED certified, and its fourth LEED Gold. Ninety-six percent of construction waste was diverted from landfills. Sixty percent of the wood products used were Forest Stewardship Council–certified. Water use was reduced 40%. The complex was incorporated into the rolling hillside to diminish its overall mass.

Shultz Hall, an old dining facility, was gutted and converted into a new arts center outfitted with performance, research, production, and education spaces. Two new additions, totaling 72,550 sf, encompass the 1,274-seat Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre and the Collaborative Performance Lab, known as “The Cube.”

The Cube, originally designed as a four-story black box theater, evolved into a research space with performance, rehearsal, and audience areas surrounded by technical galleries. A motion-capture system and a sophisticated array of 150-plus speakers let researchers create virtual environments, explore 3D renderings of large objects, and work on advanced acoustical research.

The renovated Schulz Hall’s low-velocity ductwork and underfloor air distribution system control noise. The theater is within the Street and Davis Performance Hall, which features an expansive structural glass and aluminum curtain wall system. 

The Fife Theatre’s HVAC system includes hundreds of diffuser cores located in the concrete slab beneath the theater seating. Holder Construction developed a Revit model to communicate the diffuser core layout accurately to subcontractors, to reduce interference among the trades.

The Moss Arts Center also houses the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, a research enterprise focused on the intersection of science, engineering, arts, and design. 

PROJECT SUMMARY
BRONZE AWARD

Moss Arts Center, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Va.

BUILDING TEAM
Submitting firm: STV (executive architect,MEP, SE, CM)
Owner/developer: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Signature design architect, interior design, landscape design: Snøhetta
Civil engineer: Thompson and Litton
Acoustic, performance sound, A/V: Arup
Theater design: Theatre Projects
Lighting design: Tillotson
Cost consultant: Davis Langdon
Hazardous materials survey: ECS Mid Atlantic
Third-party construction supervision: MBP
General contractor: Holder Corporation

GENERAL INFORMATION
Project size: 150,000 sf
Construction cost: $95 million
Construction period: September 2010 to January 2014
Delivery method: Contractor GMP

Related Stories

Building Team Awards | Jun 12, 2019

Delectable design: A traditional French pastry was the concept behind the Krause Gateway Center

Gold Award: Krause Gateway Center’s striking design takes its cue from the traditional French dessert mille feuille.

Building Team Awards | Jun 11, 2019

Learning by doing: Students took an active role in the design of the Bay Area's d.tech high school

Gold Award: D.tech had been occupying temporary spaces that were hardly suited for design thinking.

Building Team Awards | Jun 10, 2019

Technology showcase: PTC's new digs combine lively workspaces with exhibits for its products and platforms

Gold Award: PTC began its fitout even as 121 Seaport was still under construction.

Building Team Awards | Jun 7, 2019

Fast delivery: Construction of McDonald's global headquarters was completed in under seven months

Gold Award: The building has a remarkably diverse array of spaces that include “work neighborhoods.”

Building Team Awards | Jun 7, 2019

Unifying force: A place where a million Tulsans can connect, one by one

Platinum Award: Gathering Place is a 66½-acre public park and playground serving the nearly one million residents of greater Tulsa, Okla.

Building Team Awards | May 24, 2018

Green machine: Janet Durgin Guild and Commons at Sonoma Academy

Honorable Mention: A college prep school gets an uber-green maker space and cooking lab.

Building Team Awards | May 24, 2018

Good neighbor: Wentz Science Center at North Central College

Bronze Award: A conscientious Building Team takes steps to minimize the impact of this large-scale science center project in a historic neighborhood.

Building Team Awards | May 23, 2018

13 projects earn BD+C's 2018 Building Team Awards

Iowa’s game-changing correctional institution and Chicago’s daring hotel and sports development are among 13 projects to earn honors in BD+C’s 2018 Building Team Awards.

Building Team Awards | May 23, 2018

Engineered for extremes: Talan Towers

Bronze Award: Astana’s shimmering mixed-use towers are made to stand up to the region’s harsh, long winters.

Building Team Awards | May 22, 2018

High-tech haven: The Spark at Washington State University

Silver Award: A ‘teaching in the round’ classroom highlights this innovation hub at Washington State University’s Pullman campus.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021