North Boulder Creative Campus

Overview
The North Boulder Creative Campus brings together two distinct projects to create an artistic hub for the community: (1) an iconic facility for BMoCA, which will be the cultural anchor of the campus; (2) the broader cultural campus including housing options for diverse needs; live work spaces supporting a range of creative practices; and commercial and retail spaces. These elements will harmoniously commingle, support each other and thrive in a campus that is net zero to the environment.

 

Sponsors: Emerald Management and Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA)
Facilitor: Trestle Strategy Group
Type: RFQ, open
Fee: none
Eligibility: Qualified design teams
(Design teams are invited to submit their qualifications, including portfolios demonstrating relevant experience, conceptual approaches to similar projects, and an outline of their proposed team structure.) 
Language: English
Anticipated budget: $13.5M
Timetable:
15 March 2024 – RfQ deadline
Process:
Shortlisted teams will be required to attend in-person presentations and interviews in Boulder, Colorado, as well as participate in an in-person public open house. hortlisted teams will be required to attend in-person presentations and interviews in Boulder, Colorado, as well as participate in an in-person public open house. 
Design Challenge:
This RFQ is seeking innovative and visionary design teams to develop a 100,000-square-foot campus that integrates creative, residential, and commercial spaces. BMoCA, a key cultural institution in Boulder for over fifty years, will be the centerpiece of this project, which aims to enhance community engagement and artistic expression in a sustainable and inclusive environment.


Emerald Management and BMoCA seek to enhance North Boulder through the Creative Campus project, providing sustainable contributions to the NoBo Art District’s burgeoning reputation as an arts and culture hub by creating a development that provides long-term value to the community. Our assessment seeks to support this vision through research, focused engagement, strategic community engagement, and balanced qualitative and quantitative data which can be used in decision making and development. Emerald Management and BMoCA’s goals for this work are: 

● To ensure that whatever is ultimately developed is inclusive of the current NoBo community (landowners, tenants, residents, artists) and identify ways for locals to inhabit the new spaces to be developed (i.e. development without displacement); 
● To address concerns about inclusiveness and gentrification in an intentional and thoughtful way; and 
● To bring the community on board in a manner that allows them to help shape the development in ways that support their values and sustainability

The community engagement and survey work focused on identifying the values of the NoBo community. The perspective is two fold: 
a) people protect what’s important to them; and 
b) shared values are a form of currency and have a defined worth in a community. 


The community overwhelmingly prioritized the following as their values in the survey:
1. The protection of natural resources and the environment as you develop is important;
2. Artistic discovery, creation and exchange must be given space; and
3. The development of built infrastructure that supports accessibility, affordability, and flexibility should be the priority. There was additional context established as to how these values are implemented, specifically: 

● This project is an opportunity to live the values we promote, breaking out of similar typologies and approaches to development and programming. 
● The Creative Campus should explore how to diversify the economic base of the community and confirm opportunities to allow individuals to both design and own space. 
● Create intentional paths to ethnic and social diversity and economic exchange through the design of spaces and programming, recognizing art can be a tool for inclusion. 
● Sustain the region’s natural resources, being very intentional about design, environmental stewardship and sustainability.

 

For more information, go to:
Website: https://www.trestlestrategy.com/nobo-creative-campus

For questions:  marine@trestlestrategy.com