2017 Best of Design Award for Building of the Year – Mid-Atlantic: Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University
Architect: Steven Holl Architects
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
The Lewis Arts Complex, a new multibuilding arts center on the south edge of Princeton’s campus, elevates the university’s artistic life by significantly expanding its performance, rehearsal, and teaching spaces. The complex creates a new campus gateway, shaping campus space while maximizing porosity and movement. The Lewis Arts Complex houses three buildings: the Wallace Dance Building and Theater; the Arts Tower, which includes the Hurley Gallery, administrative offices, and additional studios; and the New Music Building. These buildings are integrated below ground in the Forum, an 8,000-square-foot open indoor gathering space. Above the Forum is an outdoor plaza and reflecting pool. Encouraging curiosity and interaction, a space dubbed the Quadrangle overlooks the dance and theater practice spaces and the orchestral rehearsal space. As an open public invitation, this gateway aims to connect the local community to Princeton.
“It’s a masterful, layered ensemble that balances abstraction with a strong sense of place across many scales.”—Eric Bunge, Principal, nARCHITECTS (juror)
Associate Architect:
BNIM Architects
Structural Engineer, MEP Engineer, Lighting Design and Acoustics Consultant:
ARUP
Landscape Architect:
Michael Van Valkenburgh and Associates
Theatrical Systems Consultant:
Auerbach Pollock Friedlander
Facade Consultant:
Front