November 17, 2011
ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER SELECTS PFEIFFER PARTNERS FOR REDESIGN
Through a national design competition, Pfeiffer Partners Architects has been selected for the redesign of the Atlanta History Center, located in Atlanta, Georgia. The committee felt that Pfeiffer Partners could give them the iconic image they were looking for. The team's design approach, combined with Principal Walt Crimm's 20 years of experience in the museum field, were a winning combination for the Board.
The project addresses the creation of a stronger street entrance and an upgrade of its Atlanta history exhibition.
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May 19, 2011
PFEIFFER PARTNERS ANNOUNCES THE ADDITION OF WALT CRIMM
Pfeiffer Partners is pleased to announce that Walt Crimm, AIA, LEED AP, has joined Pfeiffer Partners as the firm's practice leader for museums and cultural facilities. Based in our New York office, Walt works nationally, bringing 25 years of professional experience, collaborative spirit, and enthusiasm to his projects. His dedication to clients and staff development complements the strengths and experience of our Principal group and allow us to build on the firm's legacy of planning and designing facilities for collecting institutions and the visual arts. Walt contributed to the planning and design of many of our nation's museums on the Mall in Washington DC, and also has significant experience in fine arts, history, natural history and science & technology centers across the country. In addition, he has experience on a wide variety of arts projects at the academic and civic level, assisting many institutions in developing long-term strategies for expansion and/or renovation. Beyond his specific project work, Walt's contributions to the museum field include co-founding the Building Museums Symposium, sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, now in its seventh year, and co-authoring Planning Successful Museum Building Projects, published by AltaMira Press. A guest lecturer at the Museum Studies Program at George Washington University, he is also a visiting jury critic at several university architectural programs. Walt is a member and active participant in many museum associations and recently led the Greening Museums webinar sponsored by AAM and AASLH.
May 13, 2011
CUNY/BROOKLYN COLLEGE\'S LEONARD & CLAIRE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS BREAKS GROUND
Ground breaking for the new Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College will be celebrated on Friday, May 13, 2011. Designed by the NY office of Pfeiffer Partners Architects, the 62,000-gsf Center significantly enhances the performance, instructional and rehearsal opportunities at the College for the Conservatory of Music and Theater Department. A 225-seat hall with variable acoustics is featured, along with large rehearsal halls for music and theater, both of which double as performance spaces. Also included are a room for choral rehearsal, a recording studio, the Pima Center for Computer Music, 30 music studios/practice rooms and a scene shop. Providing access throughout is the Center's two-story lobby, designed as both a venue for pre- and post-performance gatherings as well as for receptions and special events. Similarly, the music rehearsal room, with its floor to ceiling windows affording stunning views out to the campus, serves as a multi-use space for campus-wide activities. The lobby of the new Center forms the interface between the campus and the community. With its transparent glass curtain wall replacing the brick wall of the existing Gershwin Hall, demolished to make way for the Center, the building transmits the energy and vitality of the arts within, creating a welcoming edge to the College along Campus Road. Respecting the architectural history of the campus and its predominance of brick buildings, the new Center features brick to match the color of the existing complex, but used in a contemporary manner. The interplay of the brick "columns," interspersed with metal panels and curtain wall spaced rhythmically along the building's façade, hint at the sense of anticipation one experiences as the curtain rises for a performance. With its 30'-high open portal, the Center provides an almost monumental gateway for pedestrians entering the College. The ceiling and lighting of the lobby appear to extend into the portal, making the gateway as welcoming in the evening as it is in the daytime. A 70'-high stair tower and taller triangularly shaped sign, lit from within, announces Brooklyn College to the community at large. Opening is scheduled for Spring 2014.
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April 29, 2011
SUNY POTSDAM PERFORMING ARTS BUILDING BREAKS GROUND
The 92,000-sf Performing Arts Building at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam breaks ground Friday, April 29, 2011. Attending the event will be members of the College community, elected officials, and representatives from Pfeiffer Partners Architects, who designed the building, and Northland Associates Inc., who will build it. The first new academic building to be constructed on the SUNY Potsdam campus since 1973, the Performing Arts Building features 97,000 sf of theater and dance space, supporting the College's acclaimed departments of Theater and Dance. The new state-of-the-art facility includes a variety of performance spaces, including a 350-seat proscenium theater with fixed seating; a 100-seat black box theater; and 4,000 sf of dance performance space with flexible seating on telescopic risers. Additional building components include a public lobby, café, two large studios, a physical conditioning room, recording studio and performer support spaces, including dressing rooms and a green room. Back-of-house areas include a scene shop and a costume shop. Classrooms include an Education Lab for training teachers in the Arts, a Digital/Audio Studio, a Design/Drafting Lab, a CAD Lab and a Lighting Lab. The new building also houses faculty offices and student organization space. Located adjacent to the campus' Crane Music Complex, the new building complements the existing architecture of the music buildings, yet establishes its own image and identity, enhancing the visibility of the Arts on campus. Connections between the new building and the Crane School of Music not only provide ease of movement between the two buildings but--more importantly--foster interaction among the various artistic disciplines. The design, with its "fractured" profile, allowing the creation of a series of clerestories to draw light into the building, was inspired by the varied landscape of the Adirondacks--with its the geologic rock formations and stone outcroppings, the beauty of the St. Lawrence River, and the shear-faced walls of the Ausable Gorge. Much as the earth's surface reveals the shift of tectonic plates, the undulating roof responds to the disparate volumes of space below and appears to lift up its winter blanket of snow.
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April 26, 2011
MOUNT ROYAL UNIVERSITY NEW CONSERVATORY AND PERFORMANCE HALL FACILITIES BREAKS GROUND
Mount Royal University's new 92,000-sf (8,500-sm) Conservatory and Performance Hall Facilities breaks ground this spring, making it the first performing arts venue built in Calgary in over a decade. Part of the university's six-phased expansion program to accommodate nearly double the student population at the Lincoln Park campus--currently at 14,000, the center will serve the university's music, theater, speech and childhood community outreach programs. Adjacent to the prominent East Gate campus entrance and the Roderick Mah Centre for Continuous Learning, the multi-tiered building will act as a new gateway for the growing campus. An enclosed link between the two buildings will allow for shared use of the lobby and other public spaces, enhancing potential synergies between the two programs.The center will include an integrated 800-seat concert hall and teaching facility, ensemble studios, a recording studio, teaching studios and practice rooms, classrooms, dressing rooms and a green room, a multi-level lobby, and administrative offices and support space. The metaphor of the rural barn within the expansive prairie of Alberta served as a contemporary inspiration for choices in materials, structure, and color throughout the project. Within the concert hall itself, the expressed structure echoes heavy timber construction, while the abstracted image of the Alberta Rose is the crowning feature in the design of the acoustical canopy. The five-floor facility is being designed for LEED Gold certification, with orientation and glazing placement that maximizes solar exposure to take advantage of natural lighting. Pfeiffer Partners is working with a steering committee consisting of representatives from the University, Conservatory, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and other stakeholders to balance user needs with available financial resources to create a new center that strengthens and supports the University's role in arts education on campus and throughout the region.
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December 1, 2010
UC SANTA BARBARA DAVIDSON LIBRARY RENOVATION AND ADDITION RECOMMENCES
Upon passage of the State budget by the Legislature, in which only five UC projects received funding, Pfeiffer Partners has recommenced the design process by beginning design development for the addition and renewal of the Davidson Library at the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus. Pfeiffer Partners began working on the project in 2003 with the preparation of a Detailed Project Program (DPP) and has been working with the University since to get the project through the UC funding cycle. Davidson Library was initially built in 1926 with a first addition constructed in 1952, an eight-story tower addition in 1967 and a four-story addition in 1978. Davidson Library is the University's main library, supporting research collections, digital services and instructional functions, as well as housing a significant special collections department. It serves UCSB's 18,800 students and 1,000 faculty members, in addition to the surrounding community. The new 61,000 gsf addition will house a new information commons on the first two floors with Special Collections occupying the third floor. The renovation portion of the project includes the existing 93,000 gsf north wing, which includes the original 1926 library and the 1952 addition collection. The project is targeting LEED Silver certification for both the renovation and the addition.
October 20, 2010
ATASCADERO\'S HISTORIC CITY HALL REPAIR & REHABILITATION COMMENCES
Construction began on October 29 on the first of three phases to repair and rehabilitate Atascadero's historic City Hall. Completed in 1918 as the centerpiece of the Atascadero Colony, a utopian planned community by Edward Gardner Lewis, the 58,000 sf building sustained significant damage in the 2003 San Simeon earthquake and was vacated. Pfeiffer Partners was hired in 2004 to assess and document the damage and other building deficiencies. The firm has prepared drawings for FEMA-funded repair and hazard mitigation work. In addition, Pfeiffer Partners is developing drawings for possible City-funded enhancements to the building, including restoring overlooks from the second floor into the lower rotunda, creating artificial light boxes, a new painting scheme for the lower rotunda, new indoor and outdoor lighting schemes, restoration of the historic fountains and new landscaping. Completion is scheduled for 2013.
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September 30, 2010
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY LEMIEUX LIBRARY & MCGOLDRICK LEARNING COMMONS DEDICATED
Hundreds attended the formal dedication of the recently completed renovation and expansion of Seattle University's Lemieux Library & McGoldrick Learning Commons, a milestone in the University's 120-year history. The 120,000 sf addition and renovation, which is slated for Gold LEED certification, represents the largest singular investment the University has made to promote academic excellence and scholarship. Designed by Pfeiffer Partners in association with Seattle-based Mithun, the brings the library into the 20th century as the new academic heart of the campus.The addition seamlessly adds a café, digital commons, 24/7 study areas, a range of group study rooms, a fully-equipped media production center, mentoring and research commons, interactive "smart" classrooms, and reading rooms.
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September 19, 2010
SUNY OSWEGO TYLER HALL RENOVATION MASTER PLAN COMMENCES
Work has begun on Pfeiffer Partners' master plan for SUNY Oswego's Tyler Hall, including development of a space program identifying the needs and priorities of the entire School of Communication, Media and Arts (SCMA). Designed as the Fine Arts Building in 1965, Tyler Hall houses art studios, classrooms, offices, galleries, music practice and performance spaces, and the Waterman Theatre, which is used by students and the community. The master plan will include test-fit diagrams, illustrating how the space program can be accommodated within the existing building, as well as identifying a three-phase approach for overall renovation of the facility. As part of this, the team will also address needed building system upgrades and code deficiencies, necessary improvements to the 525-seat Waterman Theater, along with interior and exterior architectural enhancements to foster the building's identity as a contemporary performing arts and academic facility for the University and broader Oswego community.
September 4, 2010
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY MACEWAN STUDENT CENTRE RENEWAL MASTER PLAN KICKS OFF
Pfeiffer Partners Principals Stephanie Kingsnorth, AIA, and Kevin O'Brien, AIA, have begun planning the planning, programming and concept design to develop a long-term master plan for space utilization, renewal and repurposing of the University of Calgary's MacEwan Student Centre. The 24,100-m2 (430,000-sf) building--the main student activities space for the 29,000-student campus--houses student activity offices, lounges, retail and food outlets, a concession area and a full-service kitchen. The building is linked at the northwest corner to the Kinesiology Building and has a major interior circulation path that is part of a campus-wide system that allows movement across campus without having to go outside during inclement weather. The western portion of the building houses a performance and conference venue that is heavily utilized throughout the year. Completed in 1987, the building has undergone two major additions and multiple renovations. The University has agreed that the concept design will focus on three major issues: creating much needed social spaces for students, adding a new level of transparency to the facility and completely overhauling the existing loading and materials movement within the facility.
August 30, 2010
WESTMONT COLLEGE NEW ACADEMIC BUILDINGS OPEN
Two new academic buildings, Adams Center for the Visual Arts and Winter Hall for Science and Mathematics, have been completed in time for the fall semester--over two months ahead of schedule--at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Pfeiffer Partners was Executive Architect for Phase I of the master plan, encompassing 164,000 sf of new campus facilities, including the new Adams Center and Winter Hall academic buildings. The 31,330-sf, three-level building includes studios with indoor and outdoor work spaces for ceramics, sculpture, crafts and painting; a printmaking studio; a drawing studio; a computer graphics lab; an art photography/frame shop; a climate-controlled art gallery and reception area; an art conference room, collections storage and print review; classroom/lecture space; and faculty studios and offices. The three-level, 46,700-sf Winter Hall houses instructional and research labs, classrooms, and administrative space for the mathematics, computer science, physics and psychology departments, as well as a general 60-seat classroom and 100-seat lecture hall. Built on a sloping site, the building is organized into three pavilions connected by a central atrium space. The top floor features departmental offices and seminar rooms, surrounded by student learning lounges that open to landscaped roofs and walkways. Both projects were designed for LEED Gold certification, with extensive use of natural ventilation and green roofs. In the course of construction, all oak trees on the site were saved and the hardwood flooring from the old gym was reused in the art gallery.
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August 10, 2010
FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY MUSIC EDUCATION AND PERFORMANCE BUILDING OPENS
Florida Gulf Coast University's Arts new Music Education & Performance Building has opened. The 24,500-gsf facility is the first of the three-phased project, master planned by Pfeiffer Partners, that will provide facilities for both the Bower School of Music and the Visual and Performing Arts. Primarily focused on spaces for the music program, the new Phase I facility includes a 200-seat recital/choral hall, a 100-seat rehearsal hall, music studios and classrooms, practice rooms, a music education room and library, a multi-level lobby, faculty studios and offices and associated storage.
Designed to be acoustically perfect, the rehearsal rooms are built on floating floors to prevent sound vibrations from travelling, and the doors of the recital hall have been manufactured specially to prevent any noise from leaking in or out. Every ceiling is sloped and every wall set obliquely to avoid the sound bounce that occurs with parallel walls. The soaring ceiling of the 196-seat recital hall is composed of honey-stained, wood-paneled walls, angled in an origami-like fashion to create peaks and valleys, which cradle sound and gently reverberate it back to the audience.
Previously, music courses and performances were being provided in three separate buildings--all acoustically and spatially challenged--on the FGCU campus. Consolidation of classroom, studio, rehearsal and concert space was necessary to accommodate the anticipated growth and quality of the University's music and theater programs.
The LEED Gold-certified building responds to the demands of the Florida climate. The design complements the sloped roof architecture and deep overhangs of the existing campus vernacular, while at the same time distinguishing itself as the gateway to what will eventually become the University's arts precinct in subsequent phasing, as well as a civic destination for the arts community in the surrounding area. The building takes advantage of the site's natural beauty, providing a variety of views out to the adjacent wetlands.
The project has proceeded through a series of interactive workshops with the departments of music and theater as well as campus facilities, ensuring that the building meets the internal needs of the departments as well as the long-term functional and operational needs of the University.
