Metamorphosis Building

WORKac’s design for the Women’s Building addresses the diversity and intersectionality of women’s issues by creating an array of spaces for interaction, organization, and action.

Located in Chelsea, the non-profit hub is designed as a collage of three intertwined elements: the adaptively reused historic Bayview women’s prison building, a new office tower, and the redesigned façade of Bayview’s annex, which acts as a hinge between old and new. Large carved openings create sculptural interiors for circulation and shared activities, from meeting spaces to fabrication labs.

Above a ground floor open to the general public, a series of collective spaces are distributed through the building to serve its core audience and users. These include a large flexible event space , exhibition spaces, a film screening room, performance spaces, a greenhouse (on the roof of the old building), and a fourteenth-floor “viewing bowl” overlooking the river. The more private areas of the lower floors house a clinic and fitness center, while the upper floors provide office space for non-profit tenants.