Proposal, 2021.

Pliskin Architecture (panyc) teamed up with a local development team to study the feasibility of, and fund-raise for, the potential adaptive reuse of the former Church of the Redeemer  in Brooklyn in a performing arts school and venue. The church building, originally built in 1864, served several congregations throughout the years, before ultimately being converted into a theater, and subsequently falling into disrepair and shutting down. The development group, together with a prominent local artist, put together an aspirational program to renovate, convert, and reuse the structure, and approached panyc to conduct the programming and spatial studies, along side visualizations, that would become the foundation for the future buildings program and budget. Our work product was subsequently used to work with local not-for-profit organizations to secure funding for this project.

We studied the existing structure, for both assets and liabilities, and worked within its framework to expand what it could house, and celebrating it past glory and features. We explored multiple options for intervention, including the construction of additional mezzanines within the triple-height space, addition of workshop space to support live events within the space, making the building wheelchair accessible, and creating new front-of-house and back-of-house facilities to enhance the potential uses of the building. In all schemes, we worked to make sure the adaptive reuse of the church structure preserves the scale of space and the existing mural on the ceiling, and celebrate the stained glass windows that face the adjacent community garden.

Project Team: Elisa Albuquerque, Pabla Amigo, Emily Nguyen, Nishant Jacob, Barak Pliskin, Helen Sturman