SECRET RISD GARDEN transforms the interstitial space situated between 15 Westminster St and 10 Weybosset St in Downtown Providence. The rectilinear double height space used to connect the two buildings, formerly Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building and Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank, designed by York & Sawyer in a neo-Renaissance style was completed in 1920. Today the structure is home to RISD’s Fleet Library located in the former bank hall, Portfolio Café and dormitory spaces on the upper floors.
With a need for a community gathering space for RISD, this project imagines a new adaptive use program for the connector space. Making use of the tall rectilinear space, the space is divided with a set of steps between a light and open space and a dark and quiet space. The program is tied in with the concept of a garden that acts as both a gathering space and a resting space.
