PROJECT  Wide Angle Youth Media

ARCHITECT  PI.KL Studio

LOCATION  Baltimore, Maryland, US​

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE  11/15/2024

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM  Courtney Richeson, Pavlina Ilieva, Kuo Pao Lian
OWNER/CLIENT  Wide Angle Youth Media
CONTRACTOR/CONSTRUCTION MANAGER  Plano Coudon Construction, John Plachta, Project Manager
PHOTOGRAPHER  Steven Norris
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
CIVIL ENGINEER 
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER  Albrecht Engineering, Evelyn Bravo, Project Manager
MECHANICAL ENGINEER  Johnson Consultants Engineering, Bill Moultrie, Project Manager
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER  Johnson Consultants Engineering, Randy Martin, Project Engineer
CONSULTANT  Bay Acoustics, Michael Kerr, Acoustical Design, mkerr@bayacoustics.com
CONSULTANT  RJC Designs Inc., Rich Coluzzi, A/V + Technology, rcoluzzi@rjcdesigns.com
CONSULTANT  Serious Grips, Dan Stack, serious@seriousgrip.com
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SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT  
The new headquarters for the Baltimore-based non-profit Wide Angle Youth Media (WAYM), creates a space for adults and youth of all backgrounds to come together, be creative and achieve their mission-based goals of amplifying young voices and engaging audiences across social divides though media arts education. In 2022, WAYM began their search for a new home, one that could accommodate their growing youth programs and provide new opportunities for high quality video production for their social enterprise, Wide Angle Productions. A 16-foot tall 9,000 square feet tenant space located on the ground floor of a multi-family housing development offered the necessary ceiling height for a state-of-the-art production studio. Additional program needs included media labs, offices, flexible workspaces, meeting spaces, a student lounge, equipment storage, and a gallery.

The three main categories of programming, public facing, administration and academics and production, are organized along a central spine, with the public facing programs, like the gallery and kitchen, located off the main entrance on the corner for maximum visibility, allowing WAYM the ability to showcase student and professional work at all hours of the day. The admin areas are located to the south along the windows for maximum daylight and the media labs and production studio are located most interior for maximum sound control. Volumes of program strategically alter in height, creating a space that feels more like a village and its main street, hyphenated with open spaces such as the student lounge and flexible workspace, which allows students and admin to have their own distinct spaces while still encouraging engagement and maintaining visibility.

The finish palette features wood tones and neutrals, which allows the student and professional work to stand out, and slight pops of color, which provides subtle way-finding. As one moves from the gallery, through the learning and working spaces and towards the production studio the pallet takes on a more industrial nature that is necessitated by the functional needs of a production space. Technical aspects of the project centered on a thoughtful approach to the design of wall assemblies and mechanical design in order to meet stringent noise criteria requirements for production.

JURY COMMENTS (If applicable)

MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project PDF

IMAGES (Captions and Photographer Credit)
1. Steven Norris Photography
2. Steven Norris Photography
3. Steven Norris Photography
4. Steven Norris Photography
5. Steven Norris Photography
6. Steven Norris Photography
7. Steven Norris Photography
8. Steven Norris Photography