Page 33 - School Planning & Management, April/May 2019

capacity. The school was lacking an area large enough to allow students and faculty to gather for a variety of special events. The solution was a fixed, 1,000-seat theater with 700 lower-level seats and 300 upper- level balcony seats. Acoustic design and materials, site-line studies, fly-loft height, and a combination of manual and motor- ized rigging systems allows for all the school’s event requirements to be met in one central location.
Design considerations for acoustic performances are especially critical when multiple-event types occur in one place. Denser materials are required on the
walls and suspended ceiling clouds so that sound waves can be properly directed to audience. Convex curves or disruptions to these hard surfaces provide texture and warmth of sound to the audience. Absorba- tive materials should be used at the rear of the auditorium house so that sound does not bounce back toward the performance stage creating awkward echoing and long reverberation time. Additionally, carefully considering the location of mechanical equipment should be explored to avoid di- rectly placing equipment over the audience chamber, eliminating unnecessary sound transfer and vibration.
Planning adjacencies of scene shop, prop storage, dressing rooms, and music rooms, all at stage level, support the
educational benefits of experiential learn- ing through the lens of fine arts. Directly outside the main theater is a large covered open area for pre-function events, along with a sloping outdoor amphitheater. Digi- tal fabrication labs, makerspaces, visual arts, broadcasting and journalism, and distributed dining areas embrace and sur- round the theater environment resulting in open community space that serves as a gathering place to exchange ideas, to build and test scene sets, and to hold smaller, more informal performances.
Alcuin School: Flexible Use | Multi- Function Facility
Contrary to the larger, traditional the- ater created at Ursuline Academy, Alcuin School needed to maximize the program functions of their theater by opening the walls and utilizing a flat-floor design. This approach allowed for maximum flexibility in a simpler, shoe box-designed theater. The flexibility of the flat-floor design is realized by using a retractable seating ar- rangement, that when retracted back into the void space underneath the balcony, cre- ates a completely open and multi-purpose theater space. This space can physically transform into various programmatical uses; including academic, fabrication,
and social gathering for the campus’s high school students.
Academically, the theater becomes an extension of the adjacent classrooms. One day, an event may feature a dance studio rehearsal on the flat floor, the next may hold PSAT testing. Fabrication extends from the adjacent design lab and maker- space through a series of garage doors that allow for fluid movement from one room to another. This allows for larger fabrication projects to take advantage of the large open volume. Socially, the theater can also act as the student commons facilitating students to collaborate and socialize before, during, and after school.
Auditorium spaces can play an integral role in student development. The perfor- mances, presentations, speeches, theatrical productions that take place in these venues are typically the culmination of a process that a student experiences from beginning to end. Understanding client identity and vision will ensure the appropriate places are created to support the needs of teachers and students. SPM
>>Aaron Ewert, LEED-AP and Greg Estes, RA, are partners and senior project designer/architects with Glenn|Partners, located in Dallas, offering
a personalized design experience dedicated to
the pursuit of innovative and next-generational education facilities. Aaron can be reached at aaron.ewert@glenn-partners.com and Greg can be reached at greg.estes@glenn-partners.com.
APRIL/MAY 2019 / SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 33
PHOTOS: ALCUIN SCHOOL UPPER SCHOOL, DALLAS, TEXAS