Bel Air, MD

H3 was selected in 2010 to develop a program and master plan for a new cultural facility in Harford County. The new facility will be the home of the Center for the Arts, whose mission is “establishment of a center in Harford County, accessible to all, to nurture art, artists and the community by providing a broad range of creative and collaborative experiences through quality arts education, presentation and exhibit in the disciplines of music, dance, theater, and the visual, traditional and literary arts.”

The proposed forty acre site is easily accessible from the I-95 corridor, located in the heart of Harford County. As a greenfield site, it is heavily wooded and remains one of the last open and completely undeveloped sites in the county. H3 approached both the programming and master planning strategies as an opportunity to highlight the bucolic nature of the site, recalling Harford County’s rural past.

H3 developed a program for the Center for the Arts through intensive workshops and interviews with the client, many of the cultural institutions of the county, the business community and county officials. Through this extensive interview process, H3 helped the Center determine the optimal program of activities that will benefit the County as a whole by creating a place accessible and relevant to the entire community.

H3’s master plan places these programs and activities on the site with an eye towards sustainability. One of the most important priorities of the master plan is to preserve as much of the existing undeveloped site as possible. What is built will be built responsibly and will allow access, integration and exploration of the natural landscape.

CLIENT: Center for the Arts
COMPLETION: 2015
SIZE: 133,000 square feet