The charge was ambitious. Conditions were complicated. The results have been transformative.
The Lewis Collaborative, located less than a mile north of Washington University’s Danforth Campus, represents a new chapter for one of University City’s oldest and most storied sites. Over the last century, the sprawling, three-building complex originally built as an art school for women has housed a junior high, a high school, district offices and, most recently, studio and classroom space for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.
Now, following a multimillion-dollar renovation, the 3.75-acre property encompasses: 93 residential units; offices and co-working spaces for TechArtista; a coffee shop and communal kitchen; and flexible classroom space, known as the studiolabs, for the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences.