The Performance and Studio Arts Campus at Columbus State University rejuvenates an historic part of downtown Columbus while raising the visibility of the college's growing arts programs. Consisting of a renovated cotton warehouse for studio arts and a new performance complex for theater programs along the Chattahoochee River, the campus blends two distinct programs into a single structure to create instruction between disciplines on the new downtown campus.
The arts complex is part of a campus master plan that reclaims the urban riverfront 10 miles from the main University campus. Over the last five years, the University has made a commitment to the community and downtown Columbus by relocating its Fine Arts Departments to new facilities in the city's decayed urban center.
The University's accomplishments includes building a new music building, student housing and renovated administrative buildings near such civic buildings as the Columbus Convention & Trade Center, RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, and Springer Opera House. The team focused on an abandoned 70,000-square-foot cotton warehouse with view of the Chattahoochee River.
The arts complex's two different programs required different approaches. The team adapted a portion of the existing 1970s brick warehouse to serve as studio arts space, and then demolished two bays nearest the river for the theater. The Studio Arts program fits within the 22-foot height of the warehouse.
The new brick-clad Theater complex occupies the site of the demolished warehouse bays. A glass curtain wall and garden courtyard unite the theater and warehouse. Completed in August 2007, the 110,000-square-foot complex includes a new three-level theater building with two theater venues; renovated single-level warehouse for visual and studio arts instruction and public gallery and student exhibit space.
The Performance and Studio Arts complex envisions a new urban campus that provides state-of-the-art academic facilities for students and faculties. The complex successfully promotes interaction between departments and the larger community.
The jury said, "This project creates a reason to come and remain downtown. The overall site plan provides great aspirations for the future."
Project Team: Columbus State University with Stevens & Wilkinson Stang & Newdow, Inc., Architect of Record and HGA Architects and Engineers, design architect, Auerbach.Pollock.Friedlander, theater consultant, and Jaffe Holden Museum Studio, acoustic consultant. |
