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
| Nov 1, 2010
Sustainable, mixed-income housing to revitalize community
The $41 million Arlington Grove mixed-use development in St. Louis is viewed as a major step in revitalizing the community. Developed by McCormack Baron Salazar with KAI Design & Build (architect, MEP, GC), the project will add 112 new and renovated mixed-income rental units (market rate, low-income, and public housing) totaling 162,000 sf, plus 5,000 sf of commercial/retail space.
| Nov 1, 2010
John Pearce: First thing I tell designers: Do your homework!
John Pearce, FAIA, University Architect at Duke University, Durham, N.C., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the school’s construction plans and sustainability efforts, how to land work at Duke, and why he’s proceeding with caution when it comes to BIM.
| Nov 1, 2010
Vancouver’s former Olympic Village shoots for Gold
The first tenants of the Millennium Water development in Vancouver, B.C., were Olympic athletes competing in the 2010 Winter Games. Now the former Olympic Village, located on a 17-acre brownfield site, is being transformed into a residential neighborhood targeting LEED ND Gold. The buildings are expected to consume 30-70% less energy than comparable structures.
| Oct 27, 2010
Grid-neutral education complex to serve students, community
MVE Institutional designed the Downtown Educational Complex in Oakland, Calif., to serve as an educational facility, community center, and grid-neutral green building. The 123,000-sf complex, now under construction on a 5.5-acre site in the city’s Lake Merritt neighborhood, will be built in two phases, the first expected to be completed in spring 2012 and the second in fall 2014.
| Oct 21, 2010
GSA confirms new LEED Gold requirement
The General Services Administration has increased its sustainability requirements and now mandates LEED Gold for its projects.
| Oct 18, 2010
World’s first zero-carbon city on track in Abu Dhabi
Masdar City, the world’s only zero-carbon city, is on track to be built in Abu Dhabi, with completion expected as early as 2020. Foster + Partners developed the $22 billion city’s master plan, with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Aedas, and Lava Architects designing buildings for the project’s first phase, which is on track to be ready for occupancy by 2015.
| Oct 13, 2010
Editorial
The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.
| Oct 13, 2010
Test run on the HP Z200 SFF Good Value in a Small Package
Contributing Editor Jeff Yoders tests a new small-form factor, workstation-class desktop in Hewlett-Packard’s line that combines performance of its minitower machine with a smaller chassis and a lower price.
| Oct 13, 2010
Prefab Trailblazer
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.