3333 Building

The 3333 building is a hub of creative organizations and companies in line with the Kranzberg Arts Foundation’s mission to promote the creative arts and culture in St. Louis. As part of rebuilding the Grand Center Arts District, the project is a renovation of an existing 36,000sf brick industrial building shell into a series of spaces for Mike Martin Media, Shakespeare Festival STL, Fashion Fund, Open Studios Jazz, Scene event space, Paige Avenue photography, Mark Buckhiet picture framing, Sophie’s Artist Lounge, Kranzberg Arts Foundation offices, and Elasticity. Common spaces such as the wide corridors double as an art gallery and extension of Sophie’s Artist Lounge, providing additional programmable space.

Preserving as much of the history as possible by maintaining the patina built up over the many lives of the building was balanced with the need for all new infrastructure. The patchwork of brick was tuckpointed inside and left exposed while the underslung trusses and wood roof were repaired and painted. Layers of concrete floor were cleaned and polished while the floor tile from a previous car showroom was cleaned, polished and preserved. The south façade maintains the historic character of the brick and stone along the primary street while the north façade integrates a new fire stair and canopy with two story murals. The landscape is edible and can be used by the bar in the building or neighboring restaurants.

Client Kranzberg Arts Foundation
Architect & Interior Design / Design team Open Source Architecture
Associate Designer Creative Exchange Lab
General Contractor Lockwood Construction and Development
Interior Signage Engraphix
Exterior Signage Fastsigns
Mural Artists Cbabi Bayoc (Northeast & fire stair), Nina Chanel Abney (Northwest)
Size 36,000 s.f./ 218 m2
Schedule Design 2020 / Construction 2021