The new facility has been designed by Steven Holl and Chris McVoy. It will span 38,000 square feet serving as an exhibition and performance space, lab and incubator. It will sport several flexible programming areas, a performance space with a seat capacity of over 240, outdoor plazas, a sculpture garden, classrooms, a café and administrative offices.
The ICA will consist of dual entrances, one of which will face Richmond and the other VCU’s campus. The building will feature a double-height forum which will link to its performance space located in the ground level and will open to the sculpture garden and cafe. The galleries will radiate out from the forum in forked arms. The building will also be equipped with large pivot doors opening to the garden.
The open-plan forum will serve as a liaison between the three floors of galleries. The exterior walls of the building will be clad in pre-weathered satin-finish zinc. The facility will also be adorned with clear and translucent glass walls which will offer natural light penetration during daytime and radiate light at night.
The property will imbibe various green features abiding by LEED Platinum standards. It will utilise natural resources where necessary. It will be fitted with geothermal wells to meet its heating and cooling needs. Its green roofs will help absorb storm water and offer maximum insulation. The facility will also incorporate glass walls to exhaust heat during summer and harness it in winter.
A sum of $14 million has already been raised for the project through a capital campaign. It includes two lead gifts of $5 million apiece from Kathie and Steve Markel and Pam and Bill Royall, who jointly chair the Campaign Committee of the facility. The facility is due to open by 2015.
