An important building was preserved and constructed into a distinguished museum of photography and contemporary art. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is the former main post office of Akron, designed in a modified Beaux-Arts style by James Knox Taylor. The problem was converting this structure, which had deteriorated over the years, for new technical, functional and aesthetic requirements including permanent and temporary exhibition space, lecture and classroom facilities, loading dock and offices, in addition to an outdoor sculpture court. The adopted program called for the restoration of the exterior and complete gutting of the interior to accommodate the new program. A mezzanine floor was inserted between the first and second floors for offices.

Only a few light fixtures, some ornamental plaster, and a marble mosaic could be retained in the interior. The reconfigured first floor level comprises the main reception area adjacent to a small auxiliary exhibition space, a large 7' high gallery, reading room, secure stack room, slide storage area, and kitchen. The largest gallery area is on the second floor level, a flexible 101' x 63' x 10' high exhibition space. On the basement level new construction to the south of the existing building includes a lecture hall seating 150 persons, classroom spaces, storage, and mechanical equipment. The new mezzanine level provides administrative spaces and conference rooms.