Gaillard design gets approval
By Robert Behre

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Other than questions about style and whether the design went far enough to reflect the exuberance one would associate with a world-class concert hall, the proposed makeover of the Gaillard Municipal Auditorium passed a crucial test Wednesday. The city's Board of Architectural Review voted 4-1 to give preliminary approval to the design by David M. Schwarz Architects, a design that covers up the three most visible sides of a building many in the room called one of the city's ugliest.

The fourth side, along Alexander Street, would remain much as it is for the time being. Schwarz said he considered painting its exposed bricks but decided against it, because it would create a long-term maintenance problem and because the new building's colors will blend with the older, yellowish brick.

DAVID M SCHWARZ ARCHITECTS

This new rendering shows how the proposed Gaillard’s design was changed to improve its appearance from Calhoun Street. Gone is a planned one-story colonnade. In its place are pavilions that draw the eye from the street to the building.

The board already had approved the building's height, scale and mass, so the issue Wednesday was its architectural details. Schwarz noted the biggest change since the board last saw the design was its appearance from Calhoun Street.

Instead of a curving, one-story colonnade that partly screened the building from Calhoun, the new design features a set of pavilions that draw the eye from the street to the grand entrance. Also, new landscaping was proposed to block the view of the existing garage.

That change -- and the cooperation between Schwarz, Charleston Civic Design Center head Michael Maher and the surrounding neighbors -- was enough to earn the design mostly applause from neighbors and preservationists.

Three speakers said they wished the project had been designed in a more contemporary fashion that would have given Charleston a new modern landmark. The harshest criticism came from John Moore, a structural engineer and former BAR member, who called the design "a Hollywood-style set" and "one of the worst cases of facadism in Charleston."

"We should be building a Sydney Opera House on this site. We should insist on something great, not just a cover-up," Moore said. Schwarz replied by saying this was "a teachable moment," a chance to counter the notion that classically inspired buildings are not modern. "I'm concerned with the public's view that if a building has columns, it's not modern. That's not true," he said. "Since World War II, we've been sold a bill of goods as to what modernism is." Schwarz said the notion that modern architecture must include a lot of glass or flat walls "is the reason that Charleston has a lot of ugly buildings."

Board member and architect Eddie Fava cast the sole no vote. Fava said he didn't see any aspect to the design that conveyed a sense of excitement but instead saw a building that looked like a public library or university building. "I think there's an opportunity here to do something more vibrant and alive," he said. Board members Sheila Wertimer and Craig Bennett were not present during the discussion or the vote.

Mayor Joe Riley said the new Gaillard would be beautiful and timeless, "one that will become a treasured part of a city of treasured architecture." After the board's positive vote, Riley said the action was crucial to keeping the project on its tight schedule. As planned, City Council will be asked to approve the construction contract in July, and work would begin the following month and finish in late 2014.
Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771.