Iowa State Fair Varied Industries Building
Varied Industries Building
Iowa State Fairgrounds
Des Moines, Iowa
Area: 170,000 SF
The Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fair Grounds is a historically significant structure that was constructed in 1911 as an open-air pavilion that contained 100,000 square feet of exhibition space. The building, even though not tempered, got year round use as a storage facility during the winter months and hosted several varied events in the warmer seasons.
The Fair Board commissioned Keffer/Overton to provide a design solution that would enclose the exhibition hall and add an additional 70,000 square feet of meeting and concession space to the convention center structure. An important part of the project is the fact that K/O’s design enclosed the entire structure making it available for year round use as an indoor exhibition space. A restructuring of the roof was required to accommodate the owner’s request to remove two out of every three columns within the existing interior shell.
The completed project renovated the existing historic structure, while adding restroom, meeting facilities, and offices to the south. The historic central entry on the north was restored and maintained. The building was master planned to accommodate an addition of another exhibit hall of equal size to the south of the new addition. K/O was responsible for planning, interiors, architecture and construction management on this project.
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