The City of Newburyport and a regional non-profit arts organization engaged Schwartz/Silver to design a community arts center in an 1801 Lyceum building most recently used as a firehouse. The program called for a 200 seat professional theater, together with an art gallery and a cafe. An addition to the rear of the building, modern in design and yet sympathetic enough to the architectural heritage of the city to be a part of it, establishes itself as a second front to the building, presiding over a public park and the Merrimack River waterfront.

Recognition:
National Honor Award, American Institute of Architects
Merit Award, AIA New England Regional Council
Honor Award, Boston Society of Architects

“In the old fire station’s latest reincarnation, as a center for the arts, Schwartz/Silver has developed a strong architectural dialogue between old and new, illustrating that the most appropriate preservation acknowledges the changing process of design. ”

— Lynn Nesmith, Architecture Magazine

Collaborators

Owner's Project Representative: Richard Beatty
Structural Engineer: LeMessurier Consultants
Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical Engineer: McCarron, Hufnagle & Bent, Inc.
Preservation: Preservation Technology Associates
Theater Consulting: Theater Projects Consultants
General Contractor: Castagnia Construction

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Firehouse Center for the Arts

Newburyport, Massachusetts

Collaborators