Completion Date:     9/15/2014

Square Footage:      11236

Building Use:           Higher Education - Film School - Ideation lab and creative collaboration studio space.

Location:                 Chapman University - Orange, CA

Project Description:

The $11.2M Digital Media Arts Center at Chapman University (DMAC), a registered historic property, is an adaptive reuse of an industrial building. DMAC was developed for university’s Film School and designed to provide an ideation lab or creative collaboration studio for faculty and students to exchange ideas and further their craft. The facility is now outfitted with 2-D animation classrooms, green screen studios, an art classroom, faculty offices, and a screening room.

Located in a historic district of industrial character, DMAC was formerly the California Wire & Cable Company building. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historical Resources, and is part of the locally designated Old Towne historic district.

The new, 11,236 SF facility takes advantage of the open historic industrial shell by utilizing the steel casement windows and skylights that bathe the interior space in light under the original open saw-tooth roof framing. Organized as an interconnected series of collaboration spaces, the design trades hallways and corridors for a more academic approach to circulation providing places for exchange and serendipity. Built in niche benches, an oversized communal table and individual student lockers all aim to keep students engaged before and after classes. Food service was key, as well as an outdoor gathering space with generous interior collaboration spaces all geared to create a between class and after hour creative laboratory. The trellis and canopy additions are designed for compatibility with the historic industrial architecture and extend the interiors out.

DMAC is an excellent demonstration of how to adapt and save a building that originally housed one of the first industries in the City of Orange for a new use and academic setting. Replacement would have been an easier option, but Chapman University and the City of Orange share the same historic preservation and adaptive re-use goals, and fast-tracked the restoration of what was a derelict building.

C.O.T.E. | Committee on the Environment

Download