IBI Group Leads Design Team for Boca Raton Center for the Arts and Innovation
– Technology-driven design defines a versatile collection of performing arts spaces for the 6,000-seat facility –
POMPANO BEACH, FL (October 14, 2020) – IBI Group (TSX:IBG) is leading the design team for the Boca Raton Center for the Arts and Innovation. The project aims to become the permanent home for Boca Raton’s professional cultural institutions. It will fulfill the founding promise of Mizner Park to be a vibrant home for creativity, innovation, business, and community. Design concepts have been presented to the City of Boca Raton for its consideration, with an anticipated vote on the project in early November 2020. Upon project approval, fundraising and design work will commence immediately, with an anticipated project completion in 2025.
Design principles for the new Center for the Arts and Innovation are focused on the versatility of the spaces, community engagement, and technology. The new, flexible complex will encompass six diverse spaces that range in seating capacity from 99 to 3,500, with a capacity of 6,000 when all spaces are used simultaneously. A central design aspect of the project is integrating the existing Mizner Park amphitheater into the new complex. The current Mizner Park amphitheater will be transformed into a 3,500 seat, open-air, bowl-style setting, and will be equipped with a cantilevered “curtain” that can be raised and lowered to transform the stage into a smaller black box theater. A new concert and performance hall will be added, as well as a multi-use roof-top terrace, 99-seat jewel box performance hall, and an open-air lobby placed above ground level. Many areas within the facility will be available for community use, including outdoor public gathering spaces.
“We have envisioned a project that leverages technology and shape-shifting architecture to create the performance spaces of the future. This will allow the performing facilities to expand and contract, and leverage indoor and outdoor venues to create countless numbers of programming and viewing experiences,” said Ari Bose, IBI Group’s Principal-In-Charge and Design Lead for the project.
As a technology-driven design firm, IBI Group brings extensive knowledge of technology design to the project and has challenged the team to make technology a prominent component of every space in the building. The project will add a permanent, floating, overhead canopy that will protect audiences from the elements. Enhanced with kinetic, moving elements to guide wind, it will shield audiences from sun, rain, and wind, and create a breezy, cooling effect, facilitating usage for many more days each year. The underside of the canopy is also designed as a night-time projection surface. Video projectors, LED screens, and other broadcast equipment will be used throughout the facility, and will have the ability to be viewed in all spaces simultaneously, as well as the exterior of the building for outdoor audiences.
“The City of Boca Raton has almost every desirable amenity for its residents, businesses and tourists,” said President of the Boca Raton Arts District Exploratory Corporation (BRADEC) Board, Andrea Virgin. “But the one component that has been out of step with the otherwise world-class nature of our city is our cultural infrastructure. We hope to resolve this gap in our community by making an exciting and iconic place for all to gather and enjoy.”
For more information and/or to connect with an IBI Group professional, please contact Julia Harper at julia.harper@ibigroup.com or 647-330-4706.
