David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center EXCELLENCE
The rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of an orangerie at The Pocantico Center, the historic Rockefeller estate in Tarrytown, New York, transforms the former Beaux-Arts greenhouse into a highly sustainable multi-disciplinary arts facility. The David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center is open to the public and provides visitors with a glimpse inside the artistic process, offering performances and exhibits, and residencies for visual, performing, and literary artists.
Built in 1908 and designed by William Welles Bosworth, the Orangerie was conceived as a winter greenhouse for imported orange trees – modeled after the 17th century orangerie at the Palace of Versailles. Our transformative sustainable design for the new center was informed by the history and original use of the building, its new role as a home for the arts, and the client’s deep concern for the environment. The design reuses as much of the existing structure as possible, expands in an essential and timeless manner consistent with the building’s ethos, establishes new connections to the landscape beyond, and provides flexibility for a variety of arts programming while being deeply sustainable. The project is LEED v4 BD+C Platinum certified with the highest score in New York State and will pursue LEED Zero Energy certification.