Civic | WPA - Work Program Architects

Chrysler Museum of Art Preps New Perry Glass Studio Expansion

Written by WPA on September 10, 2024. Posted in Architecture, Blog, Chrysler Museum, Civic, Glass, Glass Studio, NEON, Norfolk, Uncategorized, Virginia, WPA.

Phase 1 of the new Perry Glass Studio expansion and renovation at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk is nearing completion. The oven has been fired and university classes and demonstrations have been scheduled for the fall as the builders shift their focus to the renovation of the museum’s original glass studio, the second and final phase of the $55 million project.

The Chrysler recently invited Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander and other city leaders, as well as a number of journalists, to take a sneak peek of the new space alongside Chrysler Director Erik Neil and Perry Glass Studio Manager and Program Director Robin Rogers.

“Everyone at the museum is very excited,” Rogers told WAVY. “We’ve been giving some hard-hat tours, and everyone that’s come through has been thrilled to see the space and just anxious to bring their families and get in here in person.”

The expansion, designed by WPA, features three hot shops, dedicated classrooms and a 200-seat amphitheater theater for teaching and performance. Visitors to the expanded facility will be able to witness the glass-making process, learn the history of glass as an artistic medium, and view the museum’s growing collection of glass art.

“There are only a few of these facilities in the world,” WPA CEO Mel Price told 13 News Now. “So in order to prepare ourselves to really bring an internationally significant building to Norfolk, my partner Thom [White] traveled all over the world to visit the best facilities [and] met with the curators.”

The expansion and renovation are also specifically designed to accommodate the artists who will work at the studio.

“We spent time here,” Mel said. “We took every single class here because we had to know what the artists were experiencing to be able to design.”

The entirety of the 33,000-square-foot Perry Glass Studio is expected to open to the public in early-spring of next year.

Watch the complete segments on WAVY and 13 News Now, and read a full report at The Virginian-Pilot.

WAVY offers a sneak peek at the new William A. Hunton YMCA in Norfolk

Written by WPA on August 7, 2024. Posted in Architecture, Civic, Hampton Roads, Hunton YMCA, Norfolk, Uncategorized, Virginia, WPA.

The William A. Hunton YMCA and Work Program Architects have revealed designs for a new facility that will support the YMCA’s ongoing role as a resource and safe haven for families living in and around South Hampton Roads. The facility, located at 1045 E. Brambleton Avenue, will also serve as a gateway and key landmark for the transformed St. Paul’s neighborhood in downtown Norfolk.

As WAVY noted in a recent segment on the project, the Hunton YMCA is the oldest independent YMCA and one of four Heritage YMCA’s in the United States, established when People of Color were denied access to other YMCA facilities. The new facility will build on Hunton’s 150-year history, promoting health and wellness while enhancing its continuing mission to provide early childhood education, as well as community meeting spaces and programs to teach life skills.

Highlights of the design include separate areas for upper and lower schools, a library, kitchen and cafetorium, reception, administrative offices, a full-size gymnasium, an outdoor swimming pool, and facilities for health services, seniors, and civic and community gatherings. A private courtyard will embrace an arbor of mature trees and feature a natural playground.

WPA collaborated with community members, as well as Hunton staff and board members, to arrive at the design for the new facility.

The project has been made possible by the sale of the previous Hunton Y to the City of Norfolk, which will be demolishing the old facility to make way for the Blue Greenway, a 22-acre resilience park that will serve the Kindred and St. Paul’s community.

Additional funding will be provided through a capital campaign, which is scheduled to kick off later this year. It is hoped construction can begin in 2025, with completion in 2026.

View the full report from WAVY here.

View the project page here.

Elizabeth River Project’s Ryan Resilience Lab Is a Finalist in Fast Company’s 2024 Innovation by Design Awards

Written by WPA on July 23, 2024. Posted in Architecture, Awards, Civic, Elizabeth River, Elizabeth River Project, Environment, ERP, Innovation, Norfolk, Urban Design, Virginia, WPA.

The innovative structure is designed to help the world’s urban coastal residents protect themselves – and nature – as sea levels rise.

The Elizabeth River Project’s Ryan Resilience Lab was recently honored in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards for 2024. The Norfolk project, designed by Work Program Architects (WPA), was recognized as a finalist in the competition’s Urban Design category, alongside the Lynn Wyatt Square for the Performing Arts in Houston. Omaha’s Riverfront Revitalization was this year’s winner in the category.

The Innovation by Design Awards, which can be found online and in the Summer 2024 issue of Fast Company, honor the designers and businesses solving the most crucial problems of today and anticipating the pressing issues of tomorrow. The competition, now in its 13th year, features a range of blue-chip companies, emerging startups, and promising young talent. It is one of the most sought-after design awards in the industry.

The Ryan Resilience Lab was designed by WPA to house operations for the Elizabeth River Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring the Elizabeth River, and to showcase what the future of sustainable coastal living might look like.

“This recognition highlights the importance of this project and the valuable contribution the Elizabeth River Project is making to the restoration, sustainability and resilience of coastal communities around the world,” says WPA CEO Mel Price. “It is also a testament to the hard work that the team at WPA put into this project and the brilliance of the project’s architect, Sam Bowling.”

The lab was intentionally constructed inside a flood zone along one of Norfolk’s busiest commercial corridors and flanked by multiple residential neighborhoods. Inside and out, visitors will find ways to live sustainably and prepare for rising tides. Everything from the floating entry pavilion and storage shed to a “living shoreline” instead of a hardened shore, an 80,000-watt solar energy system, 10 gallons or rainwater collected and re-used in the toilets and a permeable parking lot to keep polluted runoff from reaching the river. Meanwhile, green roofs and walls covered in vegetation reduce runoff and conserve energy in winter and summer.

“This year’s honorees show how essential creativity is to the process of innovation,” said Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “It’s inspiring to see how some of the best minds across industries are using design to shape our world for the better.”

The judges include renowned designers from a variety of disciplines, business leaders from some of the most innovative companies in the world, and Fast Company’s own writers and editors. Entries are judged on the key ingredients of innovation: functionality, originality, beauty, sustainability, user insight, cultural impact, and business impact.

Earlier this summer, WPA gathered with the Elizabeth River Project and members of the community to celebrate the opening of the lab. View WTKR coverage of the event here.

WPA in the News

Written by WPA on March 5, 2024. Posted in Architecture, Blog, Civic, Commercial, Community, Downtown Norfolk, Education, Elizabeth River Project, Environment, ERP, Glass Studio, Norfolk, NSU, Virginia, WPA, WPA Studio.

The recent Inside Business article Architecture firm designs a ‘labor of love’ discusses our design process,

The Ryan Resilience Lab is nearing completion

Written by WPA on November 10, 2023. Posted in Architecture, Civic, Community, Education, Elizabeth River Project, Environment, ERP, Norfolk, Reslience, Virginia.

The Ryan Resilience Lab is nearing completion in the North Colley area of Norfolk. The new lab is located on Knitting Mill Creek and slated for a spring grand opening. There are a number of “preview events” during the month of November, go to elizabethriver.org for more information. WTKR recently toured the new Resilience Lab. Click here to see the segment.

Fuse Fest, May 22 — Share! Volunteer! Attend!

Written by WPA on May 11, 2021. Posted in Civic, Educational, Hampton Roads, Neighborhood Spot, Norfolk, OpenNorfolk, TWP.

The community tradition of Fuse Fest is back in the Church Street Area of Norfolk. Click here to learn more about the event and how you can get involved. Call 757-747-2679 for more information.

Join the City of Norfolk for Norfolk Bike Month!

Written by WPA on May 3, 2021. Posted in Bike Month, Civic, Downtown Norfolk, Event, Exercise, Norfolk, Outdoors.

The City of Norfolk is hosting the 10th Annual Bike Month for the month of May.

OpenNorfolk Wins National Award

Written by WPA on April 19, 2021. Posted in Awards, Civic, Neighborhood Spot, Norfolk, OpenNorfolk, PLOT, WPA.

OpenNorfolk has won the Congress for New Urbanism’s (CNU) Merit Award in The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town category of CNU’s 2021 Charter Awards. Take a look at an article released by Public Square, a publication by the Center for New Urbanism.

Chrysler Museum of Art Public Sculpture

Written by WPA on October 30, 2020. Posted in Arts & Design District, Chrysler Museum, Civic, Downtown Norfolk, NEON, Norfolk, Public Art, Virginia, WPA, WPA Studio.

Construction is complete! A colorful 32-foot sculpture at the corner of Brambleton Avenue and Yarmouth Street, and just across from the York Street light rail stop, will announce Norfolk’s rich art culture, directing attention to the Chrysler Museum of Art and the adjacent NEON Arts District. The location will raise awareness of Norfolk arts to thousands of people passing daily through this busy corridor.

From a conversation with Artist Tommy Fox

What do you hope people will take away from this work?

“I honestly can’t anticipate what people might take away from the viewing the piece, but generally I hope it makes them happy. I also hope it engages the realization of a middle ground between pure realism (classical statuary) and pure abstraction (rusty steel I-beams welded at right angles). Somewhere between there is a lot of playfulness and room for material exploration. I would like the viewer to simultaneously think, ‘I could have thought of that,’ and ‘I have no idea how they built that thing.’ There is no right or wrong way to engage with it.”

See the blog post written by Thom White on the Chrysler Museum’s Torch: Stories from the Chrysler blog.

The Next Wave Campaign with The Elizabeth River Project

Written by WPA on June 17, 2020. Posted in Blog, Civic, Education, Educational, Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Uncategorized, WPA, WPA Studio.

The Elizabeth River Project is taking up position on the frontlines of the international quest to combat impacts of sea level rise on urban waterfront communities. WPA is proud to be designing the first facility on the East Coast intentionally to be constructed as a resilience model in the urban flood plain.