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The BE&K Building Group is restoring an historic prison complex near Washington, D.C. for the Lorton Arts Foundation, a Virginia non-profit corporation dedicated to promoting and supporting the arts in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with specific focus on Lorton, Fairfax and neighboring counties.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Lorton
Arts Foundation's Workhouse proposal to preserve, renovate,
and reuse the Lorton Complex's Workhouse facilities as
a unique and important arts campus consistent with the
county's goals to redevelop the property. Through adaptive
reuse and revitalization, the Occoquan Workhouse on Route
123 will be reinvented as the Workhouse Arts Center at
Lorton, a 55-acre cultural arts campus that promises to
be one of the most important creative communities in the
country. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on September
16, 2006.
As part of a $19 million restoration program, the BE&K Building Group is providing preconstruction and construction services for more than 10 facilities during the first phase of the multiple-phase project. Our firm is also assisting the owner with the design development as well as the permitting processes required by the local government.
Phase One construction includes the adaptation of eight existing Workhouse dormitories to house artist and dance studios, galleries, music rooms and administrative functions. Phase-one construction began with interior demolition and hazardous material abatement of the dorms, closely followed by mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough-in as well as utility installation and masonry restoration. All-new infrastructure, including underground utilities to serve the site, has been — and will continue to be — installed amid construction activities within the Workhouse buildings. Early completion is scheduled for Fall 2007 and final completion is scheduled for Spring 2008.
Among the future projects planned for the complex is a heritage museum. The current main cell-block building of the Workhouse will be converted for this purpose. Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton provides an excellent backdrop to create a museum where one can experience not only life at the previous Lorton prison, but also the transformation of the U.S. prison system throughout the 20th century.
Future plans also call for the addition of garden habitats,
and indoor and outdoor performances spaces, as well as
recreation, restaurant and entertainment facilities —
the original Workhouse cafeteria will be converted into
an events center with ample space for the Workhouse Arts
Center at Lorton to host solo and group exhibitions by
selected artists. The Lorton Arts Foundation has designated
one building as a studio theater with seating for up to
300 people. The building adjacent to the theater, as well
as the intervening courtyard, will be used for theatrical
support and rehearsal purposes.
As the Workhouse Arts Center grows in popularity, a 35,000
sf, state-of-the-art performing arts center will be constructed
by renovating the previous Workhouse's gymnasium, dormitory
and rehabilitation complex located directly behind what
will become the events center. The Lorton Arts Foundation
has identified two sites on the Workhouse property that
would provide an attractive location for a residential
artists' colony as well as restaurants to serve and attract
visitors to the Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton. |
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Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton
Lorton, Virginia
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| Project Location |
Lorton, Virginia |
| Construction Value |
$19 million |
| Building Size |
86,000 sf
Artist/Dance Studios and Music Rooms (conversion of eight existing dormitories) — 64,000 sf
Gallery — 15,000 sf
Administration Building — 7,000 sf |
| Future Projects |
Heritage Museum
Events Center
Studio Theater
Visitors Center
Garden Habitat
Performing Arts Center
Artists' Residential Colony
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| Completion |
2007/2008 |
| Assignment |
General Contracting |
| Client |
Lorton Arts Foundation |
| Architect |
Brennan Beer Gorman Architects |
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About the Occoquan Workhouse
The Workhouse has significant value as a cultural and architectural landmark due to the historic operations of the former prison and its remarkable, period-representative buildings constructed by the prison inmates. The natural splendor of this pastoral site along with the original buildings is being restored to preserve the area's heritage.
The history of the Workhouse began in 1910 when the U.S. Government acquired land along the Occoquan River in southeastern Fairfax County, Virginia. This site became the Occoquan Workhouse, designed first as a workhouse and later as a reformatory for the District of Columbia. Built as a model of innovative thinking, The Workhouse was the result of the approach to criminal punishment and reform at the time of the facility's origination.
When the original criminal justice facility first opened, inmates worked on a 1,200-acre farm raising hogs, cattle and chickens, and built many of the buildings in the complex, including the dorms, dining hall, laundry, bake shop, ice plant and hospital. Two more sections were added later; the Lorton Reformatory in 1913 and finally the penitentiary in the 1930s. The Workhouse was first used as a small prison in 1916, housing 60 inmates. The prison facilities quickly grew, and in 1917, the Workhouse received its most famous inmates — the Suffragists.
By the 1930s, the prison began resembling how it looked in modern times. It grew to an extensive 3,200-acre complex, housing between 6,000 and 7,000 inmates. Bars and locks were installed and the farming continued until only a couple of years ago. The Occoquan Workhouse — and the entire Lorton complex — was closed in 2002.
Soon the bars and wire will be gone from the beautiful old brick cloistered archways, and the space will take on new life, emerging as a vibrant arts education and cultural center where self-expression and creative excellence are cherished and nurtured; a supportive environment where inspiration flows and important work can be produced.
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