Kansas City PBS

Work completed while at El Dorado.

Making Kansas City a Better Place; that is how to summarize Kansas City PBS’ mission in our community. For nearly sixty years, the organization’s quality programming and services have entertained, educated, and elevated the quality of life in our region, now reaching nearly 800,000 people every month. Having recently expanded into radio and online journalism, the content at KCPBS continues to raise the bar within the public media industry. During the past decades of this work in Kansas City, KCPBS rarely invested capital within their own facilities. However, in 2019 KCPBS began an extensive renovation to propel their creative endeavors into the future.

The existing facilities were a compilation of five buildings, connected by a warren of non-accessible corridors. After a rigorous programming analysis, it was determined that one of the buildings was to be demolished to make room for a new Connector. This new structure includes an elevator and custom feature stairway that provides ADA-compliant, generous circulation paths to the remaining buildings. An exterior, private courtyard was then inserted behind the new structure with connections to all creative departments. The ground level of the first building is dedicated to public hospitality, including a large kitchen and bar for hosting events. The south end of the building was gutted to create a double-height volume of space for a Living Room that provides unique workspace for KCPBS staff as well as public film viewings and live music performances. The third building was renovated to reveal an extensive interior volume, topped with existing bow string trusses, and resulting in a dynamic space for the various creative departments. Upon completion, the project will provide an elevated workplace; a home that meets the high quality of KCPBS’s contribution to Kansas City.

Kansas City PBS