HMFH developed a detailed space program and several alternative approaches to the location and organization of new space on this 75-year-old campus with little room left for growth. In addition to providing much needed program space for performing arts, visual arts, and athletics, the expansion plan addresses issues of accessibility, expands outdoor playing fields, and improves traffic circulation and parking on the site.
The new Visual and Performing Arts Center, the first building to be realized, contains specialized facilities for music, dance, the visual arts, and theater. The three-story facility features a black box theater with flexible seating and theatrical lighting, plus a scene shop, costume storage and workroom, lighting storage, control room, green room, drama instruction classroom, and dressing rooms. The music program includes classrooms for choral, jazz, dance, and a chamber ensemble, plus practice rooms and storage. In the visual arts department, students have a photo studio and darkroom, and studios for 2-D art, print making, and computer graphics.
Although the new Center is linked to the main building, a separate public entrance, reached by a bridge across the sloping site, leads to a two-story, sky-lit lobby/gallery. The exterior massing and detailing of the classrooms and studios relate to the forms of Beaver’s main academic building and to the residential neighborhood. The Black Box Theater is emphasized by intricate brick patterning that continues into the lobby.