SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture Renovation/Adaptive Reuse, Special Citation

The Juilliard School for the Expansion and Renovation, with Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXFowle Architects; also Ove Arup & Partners; Langan Engineering and Environment Services, Inc.; Jaffe Holden Acoustics, Inc.; Shen Milsom & Wilke, Inc.; R.A. Heintges & Associates; Fisher Dachs Associates, Inc.; L'observatorie

photo by Iwan Baan

    
photo by Iwan Baan                     photo courtesy of FXFowle

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The Juilliard School, largely unchanged since its 1969 construction, needed to expand, upgrade and restore some of the building’s lost architectural features, and reposition it as a premier international conservatory of music, dance, and drama.

Juilliard wanted to add 39,000 square feet of classrooms, musical practice rooms, rehearsal space, and two performance venues to expand programs and educational opportunities, to keep pace with new technology.

Given the limits of the site and existing building, a strategy was developed combining infill and expansion. As a school for the performing arts, the technical challenges of upgrading acoustic qualities, sound isolation, and mechanical system performance was important to achieving spatial, programming, and pedagogical goals.

The program required flexibility and efficiency, and multi-functional spaces were designed with architectural details and systems to provide variable acoustics in performance spaces, theater workshop, classrooms, conference, and social activity areas.

The light-filled, three-story high lobby overlooking the street is the new social heart of the school, with LED information boards, computer terminals, coffee bar and comfortable furniture.

“The project has achieved more than the sum of the new spaces. The breadth and scope of the transformation is evidence of the architectural ingenuity, technical resourcefulness, logistical skill, and diligence of all the participants,” says Joseph W. Polisi, president of The Juilliard School.

The renovation proves that modern, mid-century buildings can be re-invigorated and re-imagined to strengthen existing architecture, yet allow free and fluid expression of new ideas and materials.

Juilliard engages the public with a glazed lobby and grand stair where an oppressive mid-block bridge had been. Whether attending a performance or not, the public is invited to participate in the spectacle of dancers, actors and musicians that make up the unique life at The Juilliard School.

The jury said, “. . . very significant planning . . . to activate an external space at the corner, the façade into an activity for people at a street level . . . ”

Project Team: The Juilliard School and Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXFowle Architects; with Ove Arup & Partners; Langan Engineering and Environment Services, Inc.; Jaffe Holden Acoustics, Inc.; Shen Milsom & Wilke, Inc.; R.A. Heintges & Associates; Fisher Dachs Associates, Inc.; L’observatorie.