Jane Pickens Theater Building Chosen as Subject of New Rhode Island School of Design Interior Architecture Studio

The Jane Pickens Theater & Event Center is proud to announce that the building has been chosen as the subject of a new studio in the Department of Interior Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to study adaptive reuse.  The theater building was selected out of a group of four historic Newport buildings considered for this program.  This design study will focus on the adaptive reuse of the building interior and must work within the parameters of historic preservation, building code and the tight budget restraints common to commercial operations in adaptive re-use projects.  The JPT building was chosen due to its history as one of the oldest theater buildings in America, its urban location, programming, community involvement, economic viability and its high value as a contributing element for the revitalization of the neighborhood.

The students involved in this studio are currently in a seminar class on general topics of adaptive reuse.  In January and February further historical and building documentation of the Jane Pickens Theater will be done.  The actual studio, along with its theoretical seminar, will be in the spring semester from February 20 to May 24, 2012.

The MA program in Interior Architecture (Adaptive Reuse) at RISD focuses on creative transformations, adaptations and/or expansions of existing buildings.  The Adaptive Reuse Studio in Newport, made possible in part by a grant to RISD from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, affords students an opportunity for a real world application at an iconic local venue in the inaugural year or its Adaptive Reuse degree.