Brown University Churchill House and Rites and Reason Theatre
Seat of the Department of Africana Studies at Brown University for nearly 50 years, Churchill House and the Rites and Reason Theatre have a rich history, making the spaces integral to the university as a hub for education centered around the African diaspora.
This project, in partnership with Mario Gooden Studio, provides expanded space for departmental programming and events, including a renovated theater and production spaces, faculty, and community event spaces for Brown University’s Department of Africana Studies.
Visually connected to the street, the addition provides transparency and connectedness to the surrounding campus, celebrating and conveying the important academic and performance-based work transpiring within. The reoriented building entry with a new terrace and ramp is located along the Walk, a vibrant campus green space frequented by students and local community members. Enhancing the visibility of the department on campus, and improving accessibility from the street, this renovation and addition supports Brown University as it works toward goals of diversity and inclusion, sustainability and wellness, and community.
The design highlights the relationship between the Department of Africana Studies and the Rites and Reason Theater. Throughout the building, the department’s shared wall with the theater features a pattern mirroring that on the facade of the addition, forging connections between the building’s interior and exterior, and highlighting the presence of the theater within the Department.
Along the lobby’s southern wall, the entrance to the theater is framed with a custom perforated panel with an intricate fractal pattern. The fractal, a geometric pattern with inlaid shapes that grow and shrink in scale, references patterns used in West African cultural artifacts such as textiles and architecture. This fractal pattern is recalled throughout the department and is used in the supergraphics on select feature walls on each level of the building.
Location
Providence, RI
Client
Brown University
Completion
2023
MFA Design Team
Karen Fairbanks, Scott Marble, Tanya Gershon, Jason Roberts, Diego Arango, Elliot Park, Kristy Cho, Brian Castro
Associate Architect
Mario Gooden Studio
Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing Engineer / IT
Vanderweil Engineers
Civil Engineer
Woodard & Curran
Geotechnical Engineer
GZA GeoEnvironmental
Landscape Architect
Stimson Landscape Architects
Fire Alarm / Fire Protection / Code Consultant
Jensen Hughes
Energy Modeling
Andelman and Lelek
Security
Siemens Industries
Building Envelope
Building Enclosure Science
Acoustical Consultant
Threshold Acoustics
Theater and Performance
Theatre Projects
Lighting Design
Tillotson Design Associates
Structural Engineer
Odeh Engineers
Specifications Writer
Construction Specifications Inc.
