The Richmond CenterStage opened in 1928 in the Virginia capital as a grand movie palace named Loew’s Theatre. It was reinvented in 1983 as a performing arts center known as Carpenter Theatre and hobbled along until 2004, when the crumbling venue was mercifully shuttered. There were plans for a comprehensive historic restoration but the funding never materialized.
The complex was finally started on its path toward restoration in 2007, when the Richmond CenterStage Foundation secured the $62.2 million necessary to finance the rehab.
With the Building Team of Wilson Butler Architects and Gilbane/Christman (CM) at the helm, the 148,245-sf historic theater wasn’t simply restored: It was reimagined, enlarged, and upgraded. The new 179,000-sf complex became home to four venues:
• Carpenter Theatre: the fully restored, original 1,760-seat auditorium with enlarged stage and an expanded lobby area.
• Gottwald Playhouse: a 200-seat black box theater.
• Genworth BrightLights Education Center: a training space for aspiring thespians.
• Rhythm Hall: a multipurpose venue.
The building’s extra square footage came from annexing the former six-story Thalhimers Department Store (circa 1939) adjacent to the theater, demolishing parts of the building, and gutting the remainder. The former retail space was transformed into the additional performance and education venues, offices, dressing rooms, and other support spaces.
The conjoined buildings featured a variety of exterior materials, notably brick, terra cotta, and limestone, all in need of attention. The façades were repaired, two new curtain walls were installed in portions of the complex, and new windows and storefront systems were added along one side. Inside, modern acoustical, lighting, rigging, and building system improvements were installed.
The project reopened in September 2009 and became what Walker C. Johnson, FAIA, principal at Johnson Lasky Architects, Chicago, and honorary chair of BD+C’s Reconstruction Awards panel, called “a real sparkler in downtown Richmond.” BD+C
PROJECT SUMMARY
Building Team
Submitting firm: Gilbane/Christman (CM)
Owner/developer: City of Richmond
Architect: Wilson Butler Architects
MEP engineer: Girard Engineering
Structural engineer: Dunbar, Milby, Williams, Pittman and Vaughan
General Information
Size: 179,000 gsf
Construction cost: $62.2 million
Construction period: June 2007 to September 2009
Delivery method: CM at risk
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Parsons Brinckerhoff, Dewberry among nation's largest multifamily design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 75 Multifamily Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit /giants
| Aug 11, 2010
USGBC’s Greenbuild 2009 brings global ideas to local main streets
Save the planet with indigenous knowledge. Make permanent water part of your life. Dive deep water for clues to environmental success. Connect site selection to successful creative concepting. Explore the unknown with Discovery Channel’s best known guide. These are but a few of the big ideas participants can connect to at USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, taking place on November 11-13, 2009 in Phoenix, Ariz.
| Aug 11, 2010
Goettsch Partners wins design competition for Soochow Securities HQ in China
Goettsch Partners (GP) has been selected as the winning firm in the competition to design the Soochow Securities Headquarters, the new office and stock exchange building for Soochow Securities Co. Ltd. The 21-story, 441,300-square-foot project includes 344,400 square feet of office space, an 86,100-square-foot stock exchange, meeting rooms, classrooms, a cafeteria, and underground parking for 400 cars and 800 bicycles.
| Aug 11, 2010
RMJM unveils design details for $1B green development in Turkey
International architecture company RMJM today announced details of the $1 billion Varyap Meridian development it is designing in Istanbul’s new residential and business district, which will be one of the "greenest" projects in Turkey. The luxury 372,000-square-meter development on a site totalling 107,000 square meters will be located in the Atasehir district of Istanbul, which the Turkish government intends to transform into the country’s new financial district and business center.
| Aug 11, 2010
Urban Land Institute honors five 'outstanding' developments in Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Five outstanding developments have been selected as winners of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) 2009 Awards for Excellence: Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) competition. This year, the competition also included the announcement of two special award winners. The Awards for Excellence competition is widely regarded as the land use industry’s most prestigious recognition program.
| Aug 11, 2010
Design firms slash IT spending in 2009
Over half of architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms (55%) are budgeting less for information technology in 2009 than they did in 2008, according to a new report from ZweigWhite. The 2009 Information Technology Survey reports that firms' 2009 IT budgets are a median of 3.3% of net service revenue, down from 3.6% in 2008. Firms planning to decrease spending are expected to do so by a median of 20%.
| Aug 11, 2010
A glimmer of hope amid grim news as construction employment falls in most states, metro areas
The construction employment picture brightened slightly with 18 states adding construction jobs from April to May according to a new analysis of data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, construction employment overall continued to decline, noted Ken Simonson, the chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Aug 11, 2010
Thom Mayne unveils 'floating cube' design for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas
Calling it a “living educational tool featuring architecture inspired by nature and science,” Pritzker Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and leaders from the Museum of Nature & Science unveiled the schematic designs and building model for the Perot Museum of Nature & Science at Victory Park. Groundbreaking on the approximately $185 million project will be held later this fall, and the Museum is expected to open by early 2013.
