McKissack, in a joint venture, provided construction management services for the construction of a new state-of-the-art facility for the instruction of fine arts. The new building is a three-story, 255,000 SF steel structure on spread footings with strip windows and masonry walls and features terrazzo flooring in the main lobby. The project consisted of ground-up construction for a new School of Architecture and Arts at the Temple University campus. McKissack managed all phases of work from pre-construction, construction, and close-out of the project. The building features energy-efficient construction techniques employed for the walls, roof and windows, and provides creative studios and labs, ground floor galleries, workshops, 8,000 SF of exhibition space, and administrative offices. The facility boasts the most advanced visual arts facilities in the region and functions as a world-class exhibition space and educational tool. The building also includes spaces for innovative large-scale installation pieces, a central media output center, shared computer labs, computer-integrated classroom spaces and comfortable and accessible cafes and lounges. In addition, the courtyard provides the largest green space on Temple University’s Main Campus.

The building itself is distributed over four floors, with the “heavy” studios – those that require fork lift access and more industrial applications such as Ceramics, Glass, and Sculpture – located on the first floor, and the “lighter” studios – those such as Fibers and Printmaking – on the second floor. The painting and drawing studios are located on a partial third floor, in a loft-like space facing north. Photography, wood shop, general storage, and the main mechanical and electrical rooms are located on the lower level.