Syracuse Arts Center | Baxter Hankin

This project works with the idea of a wrapper with objects protruding from and receding from the surface. This is translated this into a grid and enclosure system, which is brought into the building through atria spaces, and is interrupted by wooden boxes. When the enclosure system is brought on the inside, and program wraps around the two atria spaces. The system consists of a structural grid with panel infill and glass infill. This system is treated the same both on the exterior and in the atria spaces. When the boxes extrude from the building exterior and cantilever past the edge of the Syracuse Art Center, they provide hierarchical spaces of a variety of uses within the building.

The cut in the front of the building responds to both the concept of the building wrapper receding from the surface and program. The taller part of the cut is an extension of the circulation atrium containing the main staircase. The shorter part of the cut responds to the lobby that exists beyond it, and also to the corner of the building lot.

Within the grid and panel system, all moves respond to programmatic and environmental conditions. The non-occupiable panels control the amount of light that enters the building. These panels respond to program, with more at the rear of the building and fewer at the front, since program at the rear requires less natural light than that of the front. The atria spaces diffuse the light into the adjacent rooms. The boxes respond to program, allowing for a unique range of additional functions in the building, as well as providing small interior gardens.