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Architects: SPF: architects
- Area: 60000 ft²
- Year: 2013
- Photographs: John Edward Linden Photography
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Manufacturers: Swisspearl
Text description provided by the architects. The program for the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts [the Wallis] was to transform the Historic Post Office Site into a cultural center for the performing arts including, the 500 seat Goldsmith Theatre, the 120 seat Lovelace Studio Theatre, an education wing, administrative offices, café, gift shop, sculpture garden, education court and a state of the art performing arts support spaces.
Conventional wisdom had the main programmatic element [500 seat theatre] inserted into the original mail workroom of the historic post office and adding a wing to house all the other pertinent programmatic elements. We thought of a new way.
It was our contention to re-utilize the historic post office without major alterations by inserting the ancillary programmatic elements within it and building an annex to house the new 500 seat Goldsmith Theatre.
This resulted in a better use of space and a better site utilization. Furthermore, it required fewer modifications to the historic aspects of the original historic post office. This concept enabled us to fully restore the major elements of the post office’s historic fabric utilizing the Secretary of Interior Standards while maintaining eligibility and historic tax credit status.
