VCU Adcenter

Project Narrative
VCU Adcenter in Richmond, Virginia, is one of the foremost media, advertising and communications schools in North America. In an effort to expand and broaden the educational prospectus, a new building was planned. A vacant historic three-storey brick carriage house from 1890 provided the main school teaching space, and this is supplemented with a new 12,000 SF three-storey ‘service structure’ located along side, which provides modern facilities and additional space on several levels, including seismic bracing of the old building.

While the central (entry) floor accommodates classrooms and acts as a communal gathering space, hosting public events, the basement floor is devoted to student workspace with adjacent media labs, and the top floor is given over to faculty space and seminar rooms. However, the intention is to have staff/student interaction dispersed throughout the building. The central floor is multi-purpose and flexible by insertion of a 50-person meeting room that folds up against the ceiling, and retractable acoustic curtains separating the 90-person lecture room. The old maple floors were refurbished and new maple strip flooring and maple veneer was used for forming furniture on the Faculty floor.

Jury Comments:

• Designed to provide an engaging, flexible interior space.
• Addition is very sculptural, while scaled to fit in the context of the existing structure.
• Demonstrates an intelligent combination of advertising/branding and architecture.