The 20,000-square-foot former Palm Beach Public School building at the corner of Cocoanut Row and Seaview Avenue has been renovated as a made-to-order home for the fast-growing Campus on the Lake adult education program, which, until now, has had no dedicated space of its own. The building will open to the public with a celebration 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s the fulfillment of a dream,” Four Arts president Ervin Duggan said. “We spent six years negotiating with the school board to obtain the building. It was a long process, but it’s satisfying to see it come to fruition.”
The Four Arts bought the building in 2010 for $5.4 million and spent about $13 million renovating it. The landmarked building, which was designed by William Manley King and constructed in the late 1920s and early 1930s, is named after the late Four Arts board chairman who spearheaded its acquisition.
Renovations began in February 2012, overseen by design architect Harry Elson of New York, who worked with the project’s architect of record, Keith Spina of Glidden Spina + Partners in West Palm Beach.
Elson’s first tasks were to figure out a way to get people into and out of the building, and to connect it with the remainder of the campus to the south and west. A plan fell into place when the Four Arts was allowed to demolish a 1958 addition on the south side, which opened up a new way to access the building and link with the rest of the campus.
Elson flipped the main entrance from its historic entry on Cocoanut Row to the south side, where a dramatic two-story atrium facing the sculpture garden and a glass and steel canopy direct guests inside. A driveway leading from Cocoanut Row winds through an oval drop-off point anchored by a fountain and extends west to Four Arts Plaza and the parking lot north of the library.
The building’s historic east and north facades were left intact. The south side “is where we pushed the envelope, to not mimic the Cocoanut Row and Seaview sides, but contrast with it,” Elson said.
For the interior design, Elson created an updated version of the Mediterranean-influenced Palm Beach style, as defined by architects such as Addison Mizner and Maurice Fatio, by restricting the palette to a serene combination of limestone, rift-cut white oak and brass-finished metalwork.
“The exterior represents the 20th century personality of the building, while with the interior we seized an opportunity to create a 21st century personality for the building,” Elson said.
Equipment rooms and restrooms were positioned on the building’s south side, while classrooms and other public rooms were situated on the north and east sides, where they profit from the sunlight and vistas afforded by the building’s over-sized mullioned windows.
In keeping with the building’s new orientation, a diagonal axis runs from the northeast corner through the atrium to the fountain, creating dramatic focal points at each end and giving the Four Arts a feature it’s never had before — an attention-grabbing street presence. Elson situated the first-floor lobby and the second-floor, 75-seat Forum in the pivotal northeast corner.
Most of the building’s rooms can serve multiple purposes. The Forum can be set up for lectures, or light-blocking blinds can convert it into a space suitable for audio-visual presentations.
The first-floor demonstration kitchen, fully equipped with amenities such as a double oven, freezer and a dishwasher that cleans in less than five minutes, and the second-floor art classroom, which features sinks and adjustable-height tables and chairs, can be divided in two with retractable walls. All the seating is movable, and there’s ample storage space.
A digital lab on the first floor is furnished with Windows and Macintosh-based computers. All the classrooms are equipped with flat-screen TVs, and free wi-fi is available throughout the building.
The former gymnasium on the building’s west side has been converted into a 200-seat auditorium suitable for lectures, small concerts and parties. The stage and the 22-foot-igh barrel ceiling have been preserved, but the ceiling has been covered with rift-cut white oak beams and the proscenium opening narrowed for better acoustics and sight lines. Acoustical panels, also featured in the lobby and Forum, regulate sound levels for a range of uses.
A U-shaped seating arrangement in the living room overlooks Aqua’s marina. The room’s soft contemporary furnishings include a full sofa that is positioned against the mirrored columns and buffet server, matching exposed wood lounge chairs upholstered in a small geometric print and two exposed wood accent chairs from Century Furniture that have deep jade cut-velvet seats. The floating, double-stacked ceiling is lined with accent lighting that plays with a beautiful chandelier suspended over the center of the seating area. A linear fireplace is flush mounted to a wall and surrounded by Mother of Pearl mosaic tiles. The fireplace wall will showcase larger pieces of artwork and includes a hearth that doubles as a place for seating.
A wide gallery hallway with gray marble floor inlay leads from the foyer to the model’s powder room, kitchen, family room and two guest suites. The hallway is lined with fine art pieces that conjure recollections of stays in ports around the world. A full wall height glass tile backsplash in multiple shades of jade and white provides a memory point in the kitchen and butler’s pantry. The warm cherry perimeter cabinetry in the kitchen is repeated at the island and in the butler’s pantry. A whimsical square shaped Lucite chandelier is positioned over the island. Custom white quartz counter tops with a thick waterfall drop-edge and leg details are used throughout the space. A Sub-Zero appliance package with a gas cook top is included.
The family room features a clean-lined television wall that includes floating shelves that wraparound column details. A custom-built desk unit and storage cabinets have been incorporated into the wall design. Custom drywall details with bump-outs provide additional visual interest. The room’s tall walls and specialty lighting provide an ideal setting for the display of large art pieces. Furnishings include a long sofa and low profile swivel chairs upholstered in a printed fabric. The space opens to an outdoor terrace that overlooks Aqua’s water feature at the front of the building.
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