The respectful repurposing of a landmark Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates (VSBA) decorated shed provides a new home for Drexel University’s College of Media Arts and Design (CoMAD). Key goals that drove the design include bringing disparate CoMAD departments together in one location and encouraging cross-collaboration between disciplines. To transform the office building and annex (once a daycare center), the design concept focuses on respecting the original intent, making more with less, and providing opportunities for learning by doing.
AIA Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) Design Excellence Award
AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Honor Award
AIA Minnesota Honor Award
Client
Drexel University
Location
Philadelphia, PA
Project Type
Educational Environment | Cultural Space
Size
150,196 SF
Role
Architect | Interior Designer
Status
Complete
“A laboratory for design. . . . It’s the kind of place that makes you wonder if it’s too late to enroll in art school. . . .[MSR Design] specializes in grafting the new onto the old, repurposing buildings without obliterating signs of their previous use.”
—Inga Saffron | The Philadelphia Inquirer
)
