ArchitectureWeek People and Places: BNIM

The Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity was adapted from a former power plant by BNIM. Photo: © Farshid Assassi

BNIM adapted a 1904 Power House building in Kansas City, Missouri to create the new Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity. The original structure of the 52,000-square-foot brick-clad building was preserved, with new partitions and volumes dividing its generous interior.

Section drawing looking west. Image: BNIM

Among the preserved industrial elements in the building are immense plate-steel funnels in the two story boiler room now painted orange to contrast with the white paint of the steel structure. The boiler room now serves as the building's lobby, with double-height, full-bay windows admitting daylight into the space. A new stair and mezzanine walkway run the length of the room and act as a buffer between public and private realms.

Looking along the former boiler room. Photo: © Farshid Assassi

"The studio requirements for daylight, height, and column free volumes were accommodated in the former North Engine Room. It is brought to life by the reconstruction of the Texas Skylight and a new “floating” studio floor plate within the volume, which borrows light from the exterior windows. The restored windows, readapted with new sustainable acoya wood sashes and insulated glazing systems, provide an energy efficient assembly while silencing adjacent train noise." – BNIM

Studios with daylight form above. Photo: © Farshid Assassi

Jury Comments

"This project was commended for both the interior architecture and for the precedent it sets for the reuse of the country’s industrial building stock.

"The planning of the program, in plan and section, was commended, in particular the suspended studios that allow sharing of views and daylight, as was the smokestack space, which is powerful and unexpected.

"The design was also commended for the way it inserts an entirely new and different function into the space, clearly defining the new and the old while equally celebrating the character of the original industrial building.

"Fantastic repurposing of a historic industrial building."

Looking down on offices in the new Bolender center. Photo: © Farshid Assassi

Project Credits

Client; Power House Properties
Architect; BNIM
Landscape Architect; BNIM
Code Consulting; FSC Inc.
Design-Build MEP Contractor; Gibbens Drake Scott, Inc.; Mark One Electrical Company, Inc.; US National Fire Suppression
Acoustic Engineer; Acoustical Design Group, Inc.
Civil Engineer; Taliaferro and Browne
Structural Engineer; Structural Engineering Associates, Inc.
Exhibit Design; Eisterhold Associates Inc.
Exhibit Fabricator; Exhibit Associates
Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment; Contract Furnishings
General Contractor; J.E. Dunn Construction
Hardware Consulting; Studio 08 Consultants
Theatre Consultant; Harvest Productions Inc.