In response to a request for proposals, a new community engagement space was designed within Nine PBS’s existing facility in the Grand Center Arts District. This revitalized space was designed to be an extension of the adjacent Public Media Commons (PMC), an existing exterior plaza, renowned for its award-winning design and wildly successful joint programming by Nine PBS, STL Public Radio, and the University of Missouri, Saint Louis. To this end, the existing building façade screen, originally installed as part of the PMC, was extended and perforated to act as a sun shade for the renovated public lobby. A new pavilion provides shelter to support events in the PMC and is placed carefully along the edge of the existing KETC buidling, serving as both a covered entry for the building and a bridge between the PMC and the public lobby.

Within the Lobby, a new monumental stair draws the public up to the second level, connecting them to an existing exterior terrace, which has been redesigned to support rooftop vegetation and provide daylight to the expanded lobby below. On both levels, the public is led through an existing corridor to a new two-story community engagement space, surrounded by shared, programmable spaces that act as a natural buffer between the public engagement space and the private Nine PBS space. The community is placed both physically and symbolically front and center, promoting Nine PBS’s mission of creating and sustaining a positive, high performing, inspiring, and inclusive culture.