Bryant Arts Center

Granville, Ohio

Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP

Owner: Denison University

Date Completed: August 2009

Photo © Brad Feinknopf

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Program: A 45,000-square-foot arts center encompassing classrooms, galleries, faculty offices, and studio space, converted from a 1904 neoclassical men's gymnasium. Additions to the north and east wings add extra studio and office space, along with research facilities and archives.

Design concept and solution: To respect the historic character of the original building while conveying the progressive culture of the art department and incorporating the newest technologies.

Beyer Blinder Belle retained the gymnasium's original brick walls but replaced the timber-frame interior with a modern steel structure, allowing for upgrades to lighting, circulation, and ventilation that have the building on track for LEED Silver certification. A new four-story central atrium connects the different floors while leaving them open to skylights above. Throughout the building the architects exposed existing steel, concrete, and ductwork, and they salvaged the paint-splattered wood floor from the old painting studio for the new atrium, where it now hangs on the wall.

Gross square footage:
45,000 sq. ft.

Total construction cost: $14 million

Architect:
Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP
41 East 11th Street, NY, NY 10003
Tel: 212.777.7800 Fax: 212.475.7424