Renovation and Addition to
Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc Raleigh, North Carolina
2013
PROJECT DESCRIPTION This $3.3 million project, begun in 2011, consists of a new office addition, renovation and site improvements to the Raleigh campus of the Capitol Broadcasting Company, which houses their corporate headquarters, sales and marketing division and broadcast studios for WRAL and Fox 50 Television. In addition to providing an additional 8,000 square feet of new space and 6,000 square feet of renovated space, key considerations were the preservation of the WRAL Gardens - located south of the campus - and maintaining views to and from the company’s original corporate headquarters, a historically significant Mid-Modern building designed by Small Boaz of Raleigh, NC. To preserve WRAL Gardens and the gracious open space amenity it offers area residents, the new addition was positioned tight against the original Small Boaz building at the elevation of its underlying foundations. The addition is therefore partially underground, a design strategy that minimizes its visual and physical impact on the adjoining gardens and preserves views to the garden from the campus’ public interior and exterior spaces. The below grade position of the new addition and its covering with a landscaped “green” roof also minimizes the addition’s heating and cooling loads, resulting in significant energy savings. Among the addition’s principal elements is a deep charcoal-hued masonry wall that slides into the face of existing grade, punctuated by a series of glazed openings drawing natural light into the workspace beyond. A stout exterior elevator core and stair tower anchors the addition’s formal entrance, surmounted by a delicately crafted, translucent canopy. Renovations to the Small Boaz building included upgrades to existing finishes, technology and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems that not only bring the facility up to contemporary standards of use, but significantly reduce its consumption of energy. Changes to the building’s historically important exterior facades were limited to technical enhancements intended to improve environmental performance without altering the original character of the building. Szostak Design provided a space programming analysis for CBC, and then designed and procured a complete furnishings package for private offices, freestanding workstations and collaborative lounge settings. Szostak Design also recommended the acquisition of site-specific pieces of artwork and directed the installation of chosen pieces.
BEFORE
PUBLICATION PRODUCED BY SZOSTAK DESIGN, INC. © SZOSTAK DESIGN 2014 PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF WYATT BLACKWELL, NICK PIRONIO, AND JIM SINK EDITED BY CARRIE STRAYHORN, SZOSTAK DESIGN, INC. AND WYATT BLACKWELL