Education

Lesley Univ. Art and Design Studios Underway

Lesley University animation studio / PCA

Cambridge, MA – Construction is underway on the expansion of Lesley University’s art and design studios to create a dedicated 11,000sf animation studio and 130-seat screening room.

Cambridge-based architecture firm Prellwitz Chilinski Associates (PCA) worked with Lesley to better understand the specific needs for each studio in order to optimize each unique room.

PCA’s design creates new spaces that will give the dispersed animation students a true home, creating cutting-edge studios for all forms of animation, from stop-motion to a new visual effects studio (VFX).

The design coordinates with the existing adjacent art studios while also being edgy enough to attract new students to the growing program. Lesley’s core color palette provides vibrancy, with the addition of glowing light boxes at key transition points marking the “front door” of the animation zone.

The new screening room provides space for students and lecturers to present their work. The main corridor walls serve as gallery space for students to showcase their concepts, with loose, soft seating giving students a place to call their own.

Contractor CE Floyd has provided crucial expertise for this complex project, from procuring and coordinating long lead-time custom elements such as the cyclorama wall space, to scheduling noisy construction activities from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. to minimize the impact on retail and restaurant tenants in this fully occupied building.