Arcus Depot
Kalamazoo, Mich.
Cambridge Seven Associates

Former railroad depot now provides meeting and office space for a nonprofit

© Justin Maconochie

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

The Arcus Foundation, a nonprofit formed in 2000 to promote civil and animal rights, commissioned Cambridge Seven Associates to redevelop an historic railroad depot and a nearby warehouse. Constructed in 1874, the Italianate-style depot is listed on the Michigan Register of Historic Places. Its transformation into Arcus's new home sparked regeneration of a neglected neighborhood of Kalmazoo, Mich.

The architects have created spaces that encourage interaction and communication among Arcus's staff and the groups it supports. Symbolizing these connections, the project's centerpiece is a 1,500-square-foot "winter garden," located as a linking structure between the depot and the warehouse. Constructed of steel, glass plates, and glass fin, the winter garden provides a modern foil to the depot's older masonry construction. It provides year-round space for meetings, conferences, and public gatherings. The warehouse contains an additional 10,000 square feet of meeting rooms. Arcus's administrative offices and space for other community groups are located in the depot.

Nehil-Sivak structural engineers worked with the architects on repairing and restoring the depot's masonry, structural repairs and floor framing, as well as preserving timber trusses and wood framing in the warehouse. The team also recreated and preserved elaborately carved wooden brackets along a large open porch that runs the length of the depot's western elevation. Meanwhile, on the eastern elevation they added a long glass corridor to connect meeting spaces. This circulation spine recalls a loading dock that had occupied the same site during the warehouse's earlier incarnation.

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Formal name of Project:
Arcus Depot

Location:
Kalamazoo, Mich.

Gross square footage:
23,500 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$7 million

Owner:
Arcus Foundation
402 East Michigan Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
www.arcusfoundation.org

Architect:
Cambridge Seven Associates
1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-492-7000 tel.
617-492-7007 fax
www.c7a.com

From left to right: Yong Joo Kim; Amy Finkel, Assoc. AIA; Patricia E. Intrieri, AIA;
Christopher Baglino, Assoc. AIA; Hank Recor, AIA