The Bo Bartlett Center is an adaptive reuse project that transforms a former textile warehouse into a gallery and learning center. Located on the RiverPark Campus of Columbus State University in Georgia, the Center includes a grand lobby, a main gallery, “Bo’s Brain,” a visitor’s gallery, storage and archive space for Bartlett’s work, and office and reception areas. The center serves as an experiential learning center and cultural hub for the visual arts, while affording visitors a broad range of arts experiences offered within the University’s arts district.
Maximizing the building’s interior volume with its expansive 23-foot-high ceilings helps match the monumental qualities of Bartlett’s artworks. The central design approach was for the architecture to take a supporting role, placing the emphasis on Bartlett’s work and the center’s educational programming.
Within the redesigned space, the former warehouse structure was left revealed and raw, including unfinished concrete floors and steel beams, which help retain the industrial character of the building. Necessary energy and structural upgrades were made for the space to meet Smithsonian display standards.
Throughout the 13,000 square feet of exhibition space, kinetic gallery walls allow for adaptable plan and circulation arrangements, allowing the center to accommodate a range of programmatic possibilities. Seventeen-foot-tall moveable walls in the main gallery space can be configured to support art exhibitions, musical events, lectures, galas and other events. In the temporary gallery spaces, eleven-foot-tall kinetic walls will house visiting exhibitions.
“My design agenda for the Bo Bartlett Center was how to make the architecture support Bo’s artwork and legacy. This may seem strange coming from an architect, but my hope is that the architecture disappears and Bo’s work is what lights the place up.” –Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, Design Principal
Material Used :
1. Benjamin Moore – Paint (walls, ceilings) – Regal Super White
2. Paint mix (ceilings) – Benjamin Moore Black Beauty & Pratt and Lambert Obsidian
3. Casework – Oak veneer plywood with ebony black stain
4. Stair – Blackened hot rolled steelwith clear matte wax coating
5. Elevator area – Blackened aluminum with clear matte wax coating
6. Flooring – Cast-in-place concrete
7. Reception counter – High pressure decorative laminate in black
8. Restroom counters – Solid surface countertop in black
9. Restroom wall tile – 18“ x 24“ ceramic tile in white
