BVH Architecture designs addition to Constellation Studios in Lincoln

BVH Architecture designed a 3,400-square-foot expansion to Constellation Studios—the Lincoln, Nebraska, printmaking complex run by artist Karen Kunc.

The expansion adds four new studio spaces, a retail gallery, classrooms, and a courtyard to a campus BVH completed in 2014.

The project sits outside University Place, the small commercial district north of downtown that the Lincoln City Council voted this spring to fund through tax-increment financing.

Constellation Studios is not part of the University Place district. But its expansion is connected to a broader push in Lincoln to restore storefronts, add a festival space, and enliven North 48th Street over the next several years.

o street elevation showing perforated metal screen — The addition has a perforated metal screen that wraps the facade. (Courtesy BVH Architecture)

BVH has studios in Lincoln; Omaha, Nebraska; and Denver, Colorado. Its portfolio includes cultural, educational, and civic projects throughout the region, including the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney, and now this latest collaboration with Constellation Studios.

Kunc, whose prints are held by the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum, among others, built the original Constellation Studios with BVH.

The addition keeps her working in the existing studio while giving a new generation of printmakers and teaching artists their own space next door.

view back of building with courtyard — Between the old building and the new one, BVH’s design incorporates a narrow courtyard to act as a circulation and gathering space. (Courtesy BVH Architecture)

corridor with paintings — Paintings are displayed on the circulation corridor. (Courtesy BVH Architecture)

Because the lot line rules out windows on the east and west walls, BVH turned to a saw-tooth roof to bring north light into the new studios. A perforated metal screen wraps the addition’s O Street facade.

Between the old building and the new one, BVH’s design incorporates a narrow courtyard to act as a circulation and gathering space, meant to host outdoor workshops or simply let people run into each other.

The entrance is on the building’s side rather than facing the street head-on, so visitors move through the courtyard before reaching the gallery and classrooms.

view of studio space with clerestory — Clerestories wash studio space in natural light. (Courtesy BVH Architecture)

view of studio space with exposed wooden rafters — Wood rafters are left exposed. (Courtesy BVH Architecture)

The expansion extends Constellation Studios’ footprint beyond Kunc’s own practice, adding space for teaching, production, and public-facing programs while preserving the small-scale character of the existing campus.

The project aims to build on the studio’s original model, giving Lincoln’s printmaking community room to grow.