Studio Gang turns tobacco warehouse into the new home of the University of Kentucky’s College of Design

Studio Gang has completed the Gray Design Building, the new home of the University of Kentucky’s College of Design. In partnership with K. Norman Berry Associates Architects, Studio Gang has turned a former tobacco warehouse into a contemporary facility for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration.

“Extending the lifespan of existing buildings is one of the most significant ways we can limit our impact on the environment and broaden the creative potential of architecture,” Jeanne Gang, founding partner of Studio Gang, said in a statement. “Our goal was to bridge the building’s past and future by preserving its distinct character while renewing it as a place where creativity can thrive through collaboration.”

Combining the building’s historic qualities with modern features, the project transformed the industrial structure from a single-use setting into a multipurpose space for education and collaboration.

The 132,000-sf, three-story repurposed building offers flexible indoor and outdoor spaces for learning and making. Upon entry, visitors encounter a new central staircase. On the ground floor, gathering spaces include a flexible classroom, gallery for student and faculty work, and double-height lecture hall. On the upper levels, the open-floor plans use the original timber columns as well as mobile walls and furniture to define each studio space.

A new outdoor fabrication dock connects with an interior workshop, providing an indoor-outdoor area for large-scale making and for displaying work. A structural canopy over the fabrication dock allows students to work outside comfortably.

By retaining the structural components, the reuse project reduces the building’s embodied carbon. The Gray Design Building uses several efficient features, such as a new geothermal well system, that will lower its energy use by an expected 70% to 80% compared to a conventional higher education building. Along with the structural canopy, new trees will decrease heat gain and contribute to passive cooling.

The Gray Design Building was formerly the Reynolds Building. Built in 1917, the Reynolds Building operated as a tobacco warehouse for over four decades before the University of Kentucky acquired it in 1959. 

Now, for the first time in its history, the College of Design will house its four programs in one building. Located on an underused edge of the campus, the Gray Design Building also strengthens the university’s connection to downtown Lexington.

On the building team:
Owner: University of Kentucky 
Design architect: Studio Gang, Chicago 
Architect of record: K. Norman Berry Associates Architects
Structural engineer: Brown + Kubican 
MEP/FP engineer: CMTA 
Construction manager: Turner Construction