Story

The design for the 505 N. Capitol Avenue Building re-purposes 20,000 sq. ft. of existing commercial office space and transforms the environment into the cutting edgeSchool of Fine Art. The urban condition to the adjacent downtown campus is strengthened through a connection to a new open hardscaped plaza, presenting a pedestrian-scale arrival court to the new Fine Arts Building. New in-grade lighting, perennial landscaping and an outdoor sculpture garden create a form a land celebratory arrival experience and connections to the Dart Auditorium. The street facing portion of the existing structure has been pulled back revealing the interior galleries and erasing the boundary between interior and exterior space. A sliver of the first and second floors has been removed to allow for a vaulted atrium at the mouth of the new addition. In a contemporary fashion, the materials designated for the Fine Arts Building represent a dichotomy between minimalist materials, which reference continuity with the character of the existing local architecture and vibrant geometric forms which mark the western campus gateway and establish dynamic visual connections to adjacent buildings and pedestrian right-of-way.