The Palo Alto Art Center will undergo a long-awaited $7 million facility remodel and upgrade. The renovation will include aesthetic improvements, building code compliance upgrades and the creation of a children’s wing and new courtyard. Work is scheduled to begin in April 2011.
According to a recent Palo Alto Online article, the Art Center Director, Karen Kienzle, is especially looking forward to the new childrens’ wing.
“When it opened in 1971, the Art Center was intended to be primarily a place for adults, but now more than half our visitors are kids,” she said. “We serve around 7,000 children a year and we’re really bursting at the seams,” she added, describing long lines of paint-covered kids patiently waiting for the sole sink (installed much higher than is easily reachable for children) in one of the rooms used for classes. She said new sinks would be kid-friendly and foot-operated.
The building is the former home of the city hall and its initial design was never considered for its current use as a modern art gallery.
Indoor livability and environmental quality will be a large part of the planned renovation, which is aiming for the environmental “LEED (Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design) Silver” certification. “Green” improvements will include wraparound decks made of recycled woods, rubber and cork, and counters incorporating recycled paper.
For more images of the planned renovation, click on the image below.
image credit : PaloAltoOnline.com
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