University of Kentucky
GRAY DESIGN BUILDING
LOCATION
Lexington, KY
PROJECT COST
$38,000,000.00
SIZE
132,000 sq ft
TYPE
Adaptive Reuse
STATUS
Completed 2023
ARCHITECT
CONTRACTOR
A $38.0 M, 3-story adaptive reuse of a 20th-century tobacco handling plant transforms it into the new home for the UK College of Design, serving future generations of designers. This building also includes 36,250 sq ft of future fit-up space at the basement level. It includes open studio spaces, a double-height lecture hall, gathering spaces, a fabrication lab, a fabrication dock, classrooms, offices, and a café.
Notable elements of the facility include a massive canopy structure supported by custom-built weathering steel frames, architectural guard rails with opposing slanted pickets at all opening edges in public spaces, and an architecturally exposed steel stair system connecting the two main floors just inside the primary entry point of the building.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
+ Historic transformation
+ Central steel stair
+ Structural canopy
+ Open studio spaces, fabrication
lab, and double height lecture hall
