The Lab at Belmar (The Temporary)

The Laboratory of Art + Ideas at Belmar (The Lab) is a unique institution established within a development on the outskirts of Denver in the city of Lakewood, Co. It is unique not only for its eclectic, programmatic agenda and unconventional marketing tactics, but also for being incorporated into a typology of development which normally would not accept such a cultural facility.

Because the surrounding development on the ground floor is predominately retail based, there is an overwhelming attempt by each business to push content to the envelope of the building. From one storefront to another, products and symbols confront the passerby through hyper-visual stimulation. The entry and storefront design for The Lab does not compete with the efforts of these retail shops, however. Rather, a single, curvilinear, surface recedes to the back of the entry lobby and pushes the entry stairs toward the exterior corner of the space. The glazing is clear and uninterrupted except where the curvilinear surface protrudes through. This strategy dissolves the confrontational barrier which is generally established by storefront display. The interstitial space between the curvilinear surface and the stairs twists helically from the ground floor to the second floor where the galleries and flex-function spaces are located.