WAVY, WHRO Highlight Functionality and Resilience of New Perry Glass Studio
As the second and final phase of the Perry Glass Studio’s expansion and renovation nears completion, members of the press are taking notice of the new structure standing tall alongside the main Chrysler Museum of Art building in Norfolk, Virginia. These recent stories show how the WPA-designed project is elevating the museum’s beloved studio to become a world-class center for glass artistry that also demonstrates innovative approaches to flood mitigation.
The Perry Glass Studio has long been a cornerstone of the museum, offering hands-on experiences and drawing artists from around the world. With the $30 million expansion tripling its size, the studio will better meet a growing demand. “My favorite feature of this whole project is […] the ability to do more than one thing at once,” said Perry Glass Studio Program Director Robin Rogers in a recent WAVY segment.
While the renovation of the previously existing studio into additional instructional space is just now nearing completion, the studio’s 24,000-square-foot expansion has been open for months, providing a cutting edge facility for education, exhibitions, and live demonstrations, while also creating welcoming spaces for the community.
In addition to functionality, the building’s design prioritizes resilience in the face of flooding. This was the focus of another recent segment, from WHRO. Norfolk’s vulnerability to sea level rise required innovative solutions to ensure the studio could withstand future flooding.
“In our area in Norfolk, where many of our projects are, we have to deal with the environment first because of flooding,” project architect Robert Crawshaw told WHRO. “So not only are they getting the tidal (flooding), but they’re also getting all of the water that’s draining off of several square miles of area uphill.”
Measures include raising the building and the power transformer that keeps the furnaces running above the floodplain, as well as the installation of a large rain garden, designed by Stromberg Garrigan & Associates. As WHRO highlighted, the project emphasizes sustainability and adaptation, showcasing how design can address both creative and environmental challenges.
Students have now had a full year in the new Visual Arts and Design Center at Tidewater Community College, but the project is still gaining new fans in the architecture community. The most recent recognition of the adaptive reuse project comes from Retrofit Magazine, which included the center in its 
Join us on Wednesday, March 27th for a tour of the Norfolk State University Innovation Center on Main Street. Located in the heart of Norfolk’s business district, the center was created in partnership between the Norfolk State University Research & Innovation Foundation and the City of Norfolk to create a space to better connect students, faculty, and alumni with the greater business community. Because there is no defined end user, the Center is a model for flexibility and serve many purposes. It includes small and large conference areas that can be reconfigured many different ways. The space also includes individual break-out spaces and collaborative work areas, informal sitting and lounge areas, a catering kitchen/break room and four touch-down office spaces. Work Program Architects and Norfolk State University will be speaking about the center.
