Bakehouse Art Complex

Miami, Florida | 2015

This art complex houses 20 artists in residence at a time, and provides varied programming for children and adults. Housed in a large building that had served as bakery from the 1920s until the mid-1980s. The complexhas been expanding its community offerings, and needed a more flexible, accessible series of spaces to support a more public face.

The architect was charged with creating a new courtyard and event space, as well as opening the structure by the judicious insertion of new windows. Using the former molasses silos as the hinge connecting the entry to the event space, the new courtyard is framed by a stand of palms to the east, and a new loggia to the north, bringing a central element to interrelate and functionally integrate the various outdoor spaces. A new parking area to the east is proposed to be a flexible space that may be taken over by events as required.

Visual and physical connectivity between the exterior and interior are greatly increased via a processional sloping walkway to the new storefront entrance, providing an opportunity for seating, gathering, and bringing the eye level with a portal into the Gallery.

Awards:

2016 AIA Miami Award of Excellence (Renovation/Restoration)

Photographs by Robin Hills