LSC—O is an exhibition support outpost for Library Street Collective, a Detroit-based gallery that specializes in bringing experiential contemporary art to the public. The project represents a complete transformation of a neglected 2,000 SF commercial building located in Detroit’s East Village neighborhood, a few blocks from the client’s Shepherd and Lantern developments.

The interior is configured as a support space for the client’s many curatorial needs. A system of ready-made industrial pallet racks was adapted to store and protect items from damage and to help define the building’s other uses, from desk work to private showings.

The project is inherently flexible and achieves its goals with a limited material palette, including a burnished concrete floor, raw wood ceiling, and gallery white walls. Spaces are defined by the placement of commercial pallet racks, powder-coated in a custom color. Racks adjacent to the entryway and office area are clad on one side in wood panels ripped from Baltic birch plywood to define ‘front of house’ areas of circulation. The north street façade, where the storefront had been closed with painted CMUs, was opened and replaced with 9' tall polycarbonate panels that wash the interior with diffuse and ever-changing natural light during the day and create a beacon-like luminous surface at night.

AIA Michigan Jury comments included "This project is an incredibly elegant solution for renovating space with minimal means. The jury was unanimously stirred by the simplicity of the intelligently used components and palette to create a harmonious space that is restrained, clever, and on point."