Spiral Q Puppet Theater is a 9-year-old West Philadelphia-based arts organization in search of a new home to accommodate its expanded mission and support it as it matures as a professional organization.
Placing the loss of their then small industrial space, Spiral Q approached the Community Design Collaborative for help evaluating the programmatic fit and construction costs associated with a possible move into a vacant former trolley barn. The Community Design Collaborative of AIA Philadelphia, an organization which matches non-profits and civic groups with pro-bono architectural and planning services, put together a volunteer design team led by KieranTimberlake.
KieranTimberlake provided a survey of the building, zoning and building code reviews, developed a design strategy for the program fit, reviewed the programmatic fit, identified needed building repairs, identified desired tenant improvements, and provided estimated construction costs.
Findings showed that though the building was well suited in many ways, the cost of repairs and renovation were very high. Ultimately, Spiral Q opted not to take this space. KieranTimberlake’s assessments were instrumental in helping the organization to make a well-informed decision.
