Capital Improvements Project

PETER PENNOYER ARCHITECTS (PPA) is a 50-person firm of architects, interior designers, and related professionals based in Manhattan. Principal Peter Pennoyer is an expert on historical buildings and a regular on the AD 100 List. Founded in 1990, PPA is recognized as a leader in new construction, renovation, and historic preservation for residential, commercial, and institutional commissions across the United States and abroad. Their work is characterized by sophisticated detail, high quality craftsmanship, and a nimble balance between comfort, beauty, modernity, and continuity with the past.

HOLLANDER DESIGN | LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS is a New York-based firm known for designing estates and gardens around the world. Principal Edmund Hollander is recognized for finely crafted landscapes from the Hamptons to Hong Kong. The firm has recently completed the new award-winning additions to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, as well as the Winter Visual Arts Center at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. The firm’s talent comprises 25 landscape architects, environmental planners, and horticulturists working across three offices in New York City, Sag Harbor, and Chicago. The firm’s approach to a site’s natural ecology, its architectural ecology, and its human ecology — meaning the ways in which people will use the property — creates places of enduring beauty that respect and connect with the surrounding environment.

   

Stratton Schellinger and Ray Harden became owners of BEN KRUPINSKI BUILDER (BKB) in 2018 having worked with the firm for 31 years and 16 years respectively. With a track record for hands-on project management, the long-time associates have been instrumental in growing BKB into the region’s premier builder and general contractor. Priding themselves on achieving the finest results, they share a mutual passion for delivering consistent excellence to each client and every scope of the project.

JON MAASS is an architect, builder, and maker of things. Jon received degrees from the University of Michigan and the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York, where he was amongst the first recipients of the Menschel Fellowship. His history of designing and building structures informs and supports his work as an owner’s representative, helping numerous cultural institutions realize new mission-driven projects and restore important cultural touchstones. His work is process driven, emphasizing proper planning at the project’s outset and relentless pursuit of its stated goals. Past clients include the Toledo Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, the Gustav Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, Smith College in Northampton, MA, and the Museum of Nebraska Art.

PAMELA TORRES has a master’s degree in Advanced Building Technology from SUNY Buffalo New York and holds a Bachelor of Science in architecture from the University of the Philippines. She is an architect who worked on a wide range of projects with architecture and design firms in New York, Miami, Boston, Shanghai, and San Francisco before transitioning to owner’s representation and project management. Notable experience includes the SANAA-designed Grace Farms community place in New Canaan, Connecticut, and the exterior restoration of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Create an environment that is welcoming to the community and maintains Guild Hall’s place as the preeminent cultural institution on the East End. To help decrease energy consumption, the Capital Improvement Project also includes optimizing our HVAC system to enhance control, airflow, and energy efficiency throughout the museum, theater, and operational spaces. The priority placed on optimal visibility, improved access, and efficiency will be done without detracting from the character of the historic structure.

Bring the theater’s functionality up to contemporary performance needs while maintaining key elements of its historic design. This includes, for instance, the restoration of the stage’s scalloped proscenium frame, part of the theater’s original design by Aymar Embury II and only recently uncovered during structural exploration. The theater’s much-beloved circus-tent ceiling motif and iconic balloon chandelier will remain; non-original elements including moldings and wallcovering will be updated to more closely reflect the theater’s elegant 1930s design.

The flow of the theater will also be restored by the removal of non-original doors at the entrance to the theater corridor. In a nod to Embury’s original architecture, columns will be reintroduced in the lobby, recreating the graceful procession from the entrance arcade of the building, through the house of the theater. Space previously taken up by boxes and the technical control booth at the rear of the theater will be repurposed to allow for easy and fully accessible circulation. The plan will implement a new seating arrangement that captures prime orchestra seats, adds greater row-to-row depth, offers broader and more comfortable seating, and enhances sightlines through an increased floor rake.

Notably, the plan includes new technical systems throughout the theater and support spaces, including a relocated control booth in the balcony. The project’s theater consultant Apeiro Design has an extensive portfolio that includes Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Gilman Opera House and Harvey Theatre and Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. APF’s plan will advance all audio-visual technologies, lighting, and acoustics for the demands of Guild Hall’s all-embracing performance types.

Enhance the museum experience for artists and patrons through state-of-the-art sound, LED lighting, and the innovative repurposing of the building’s original framing to harness the effect and maximize control of natural light — all upgraded to ensure greater sustainability and versatility. Accessibility to the galleries will be improved as Guild Hall’s front outer doors will be adjusted to meet the gallery climate control requirements and maximize energy efficiency while honoring the beloved exterior.

Also planned is the creation of Guild Hall’s first discrete, dedicated art-handling facility to support installation, packing, and temporary storage of artworks, a recommended feature as a formally accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums.

Outfit with the latest technological tools to enhance education and training in twenty-first century creative skills for local youth. The space, which will now have a dedicated entrance, will be utilized for art workshops and drop-in classes for students of various ages and experience levels, as well as by Guild Hall’s Teen Arts Council (TAC). The TAC is a paid, academic-year-long mentorship and apprenticeship program for teens to foster skills in the fields of contemporary art, nonprofit management, museum and theater practices, and community engagement.

Modernize offices to be more energy efficient with a sleek and contemporary design, plus improved airflow and natural light, to create a thriving, collaborative environment that is representative of new directions in professional work spaces.