Taking advantage of massing diagrams included in the brief and rising to its full height of 250 feet, our concept envisions a celebratory beacon for the global girls’ and women’s rights movement. Sheathed in ribbons of ultra-high performance concrete and glass, the new building envelops the existing with its skin creating an enclosed auditorium and event space on the upper floors of the existing building.

Global Architecture & Design Awards 2018
Third Award | Public Building (Concept)

©Reddymade Design

The historical chapel on the 2nd floor, the pool on the fourth floor and a solitary confinement cell on the 5th floor all remain and are preserved as part of the living museum of the building. The new tower will house for-profit rental office space with views to the river and the city for small companies or businesses in art and culture supporting the women’s building. At the top of the tower is a meeting space, which lights up as beacon announcing the important mission of this building to the world.

©Reddymade Design

The ground floor of the existing building houses restaurant, gallery, café and retail uses that engage the local community with the building and encourage visibility. Health and minor surgical services are housed on the second and third floor. Childcare spaces with an outdoor terrace are located on the third floor in the new annex wing. The wellness and fitness center on the fourth floor includes the existing renovated historic pool. Sustainably designed, the building incorporates hydroponic bio-filter walls, energy conservation and recovery systems, solar panels and films, heat sensing glass, and water recovery systems. Flood risk will be mitigated by the deployment of an “AquaFence “flood barrier.

©Reddymade Design

The heart of the project is the collaborative not-for-profit atrium style space on the 5th, 6th and 7th floors of the existing building that are illuminated by a three story installation of specular surfaces that will bring light from the roof into the depths of the building and be made and installed by girls and women from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds.