Urban Media Arts

Urban Media Arts (UMA) is a nonprofit community media center that has operated Malden's Public, Education, and Government Access channels since 1988. This feasibility study and concept design explored two renovation approaches for UMA's existing 7,000-square-foot facility at 145 Pleasant Street, addressing longstanding accessibility barriers—including the lack of access to the lower level—while introducing new program spaces such as a street-facing podcast studio, flexible training and meeting rooms, and expanded gallery space. Both options preserve Studio A, UMA's flagship television studio, while activating the underused lower level for community programming, staff offices, and revenue-generating uses. The work included close coordination with AV, MEP/FP, and cost consulting teams to establish a phased, fundable path forward for the organization's capital campaign