el dorado was hired in February 2012 as both architect and general contractor to develop a program and design for the new fiber department building, to be located in a 10,000 sq ft building on Kansas City Art Institute’s emerging north campus. The unique challenge of the project was the adaptive reuse of a former data storage warehouse into a stimulating space for art students to create and display work in any size, volume or media, all within a constrained budget of $100/sq ft. The project required provisions for a complete shell renovation, new MEP infrastructure and tenant finish specifically developed for the programmatic needs of one of the nation’s premier fiber programs. Alternative daylighting strategies in the form of Sonotube skylights provide natural light for studio and gallery spaces within an otherwise windowless building. Part of our work on this project involved fund-raising assistance for site improvements, including a new courtyard space between the Fiber Building and the H+R Bloch ArtSpace gallery.
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