For this project, the goal was to establish a place for fifteen artists to live and work in residency. The site chosen is the site of the former Moran Municipal Generating Station. Due to the historical significance of the plant, the City of Burlington reduced the building to the structural frame. While given the option to remove or retain the existing frame, the election was made to keep it, while maximizing its unrealized potential.

The artist residency contains two programmatic elements: The live + work spaces for the artists, and a public exhibition area. For the live + work area, a new structure was designed to the north of the existing frame. The new component features an angle to represent the new angle on an existing structure. This new addition was designed to utilize cross-laminated timber, providing a stark contrast to the industrial atmosphere of the Moran Frame. Each of the fifteen live + work spaces provide identical amenities, with a ‘Main Street’ atmosphere to allow connection and collaboration. A library, fabrication lab, and computer lab are accessible to all artists to encourage the use of non-traditional artwork.

For the frame, the lower portion was enclosed to create a single-story gallery with supporting amenities. Above the enclosure, a viewing platform was established to allow the local community to enjoy the views that can only be attained from an elevated location, with full ADA accessibility, as a giveback to the local community.

Connecting these two structures is a breezeway, permitting all to pass through the structure instead of needing to walk around it while providing security to the live + work spaces and the gallery. Folding doors permit a seamless transition to the other side of the structure, where the lake view and viewing platform are located. This breezeway also permits a sheltered transition from workspaces to the gallery for exhibitions.