Aperture Foundation

For this not-for-profit foundation, we designed a full renovation of 18,000sf in a Chelsea industrial building to accommodate a growing foundation dedicated to photography.  The program required an office workspace to accommodate a staff of 40 (including new workstations, open collaborative areas and conference rooms), a gallery to highlight their photography collection and traveling exhibitions, a book sales area, and an education space for flexible programming.  The extensive program requirements posed a challenge as the foundation’s budget required that construction costs not exceed $45/sf including an entirely new HVAC system and new bathrooms.

The activities of the foundation span an impressive spectrum in the interest of “advancing photography”.  Due to the wide spectrum of staff activities, the corresponding spatial requirements are very different for each department.  We did extensive Needs Analysis by department and individual, at the outset of the project to ensure that the new space would support the expansion plan driving the relocation.

Embracing the industrial heritage of the space and revitalizing far west-Chelsea neighborhood, the shell was left mostly rough while new elements introduced were designed with a clean simplicity that is both pragmatic and flexible.  The project was completed within the budget and satisfied all the programmatic needs.