Sustainability in Two Acts:
The Idea Center at Playhouse Square, Cleveland, Ohio

The environmental story of the idea center at Playhouse Square in Cleveland begins with a deliberate and uncommon act of consolidation between two non-profit groups. Ideastream, a new multimedia public-service company, and Playhouse Square Foundation, a provider of arts education programs, share space in a historic building in the center of the city’s business district. The suite provides office space, classrooms, production studios, and performance venues, including a shared 300-seat theater and public areas centered on an historic ornamental staircase and historic mezzanine. “The fundamental act of two organizations combining a 150,000-square-foot program and reducing it to 90,000 square feet by sharing space is a dramatic act of conservation,” states Paul Westlake, principal at Westlake Reed Leskosky, the design firm responsible for the master planning and Idea Center suite. “We achieved an important model of efficiency for nonprofits by developing a very high-use building and spreading our operational and administrative costs across two parties.”
...

To read the complete article, please login below.

BuildingGreen.com