Pharrell Williams Resource Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia by Oppenheim Architecture + Design LLP

Article source: Oppenheim Architecture + Design LLP

(This is an update to the previously published article for Pharrell Williams Resource Center)

After meeting at Art Basel in 2008, Pharrell Williams and Chad Oppenheim quickly realized they had a shared vision to make the world a better place. What resulted was an inspired youth center in Pharrell’s hometown of Virginia Beach. The Pharrell Williams Resource Center (working name) will not only become a place for kids to escape and imagine, but will set a new standard for the way the world builds for its future.

Pharrell Williams Resource Center

• Architect: Oppenheim Architecture + Design LLP
• Name of Project: Pharrell Williams Resource Center
• Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

Oppenheim used a small forest on an open prairie, somehow saved from over development in the area, as the setting for the PWRC. Instead of observing the forest, he decided to engage and enhance it fully celebrating the wonders of the natural world with the design. The 30,000 square-foot facility is imagined to empower the youth of Virginia Beach to reach their maximum potential and give a safe and nurturing environment to uncover and tune their passions. Rectilinear volume of different proportions and various reclaimed materials dance with and through the native trees, reconsidering a harmonious fusion between man and nature—a passion shared by both Pharrell and Chad.

Pharrell Williams Resource Center

“I believe the architecture of a building says a lot about its soul and I wanted a building for the center that makes a statement to the world and the kids – something that will stand as a monument of optimism, and felt Chad was the only architect that could capture that.” Said Pharrell. “We want the building to look like something out of the future, so it will inspire the kids in it to aspire to greater things.”

Pharrell Williams Resource Center

Kiehl’s signed on to support Pharrell’s charity From One Hand to Another (FOHTA), the non-profit group raising funds for the Center’s construction, largely in part due to its environmentally consciousness (with sustainable materials, wind turbines and forest integration) and eco-celebrity Pharrell. The hope and goal is that the experiences kids receive at the PWRC will have a positive effect on the community, through individual lives and how they apply that to their businesses, families and neighborhoods.

PWRC Ground Floor

“We’re creating an environment to house creativity,” said Chad about his design. “Pharrell is a visionary renaissance man, and this center is a reflection of his passion for education and natural design sensibility.”

PWRC Second Floor

The PWRC is slated for completion by 2013. Chad and Pharrell are working on additional projects together about enhancing communities and creating better environments for better ways of life.

PWRC Roof

Tags: Virginia, Virginia Beach

Category: Resource Center

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