Buffalo Grove Community Arts Center

Buffalo Grove Park District was stretched thin with space for its popular performing arts programs. It had to pay top dollar for renting space at local schools. Then the community’s largest Jewish congregation sold its synagogue to the park district.

A two-phase adaptive reuse project transforms the synagogue into an ADA-accessible theater with tiered seating, a lobby with an art gallery, a concessions area, and multipurpose rooms. The 37,300-square-foot project includes a new entrance and site modifications. To meet a tight budget, the first phase of the retrofit reused many parts of the synagogue, including light fixtures, sprinklers, mechanical systems, and most of the ceiling. Phase two updates the theater again with a larger renovation.

Formerly, the facility had corridors and gathering spaces with high, exposed white ceilings and exposed piping. In contrast, the new facility has an industrial feel with a black ceiling that makes ceiling clouds and light fixtures appear to float above patrons. A muted color palette puts the focus on the artwork, production posters, and patrons.

Within the theater, the project raises the former flat seating area to improve views toward the stage. The perforated metal guardrail that wraps the seating area keeps views open and washes LED accent lighting down the textured concrete walls behind the seats. Ceiling clouds in a variety of shapes optimize acoustics.

Before the conversion, air leaked into the synagogue through windows and doors. The renovation brings a new curtain wall system with low-e tinted glass to not only reduce air infiltration and glare but also showcase the interior light fixtures and lobby. A new drop-off curb and planter create more separation from the street.

The project received LEED v4 ID+C: Commercial Interiors certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Among its sustainable features are high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, low-emitting electrical fixtures, LED lighting with occupancy sensors, Energy Star appliances, and building materials with healthier indoor air quality. Additionally, 93.5% of the construction and demolition waste was either reused or recycled, and lighting power consumption in the building was reduced by 61%.