We planned and designed a major addition to the Brooklyn College Center for the Performing Arts, providing the Conservatory of Music and the College’s Theater Department with state-of-the-art rehearsal and performance spaces. The Center includes the new 225-seat Buchwald Theatre that, through a combination of a flying orchestra shell, variable acoustics and stage extensions, is able to quickly transform from a proscenium theater to a classic “shoe box” configuration, accommodating both the needs of theater and music. The building also includes a new scene shop, large theater and orchestra rehearsal halls, a recording studio and PIMA Center for Computer Music, and over 30 music studios and practice rooms. The building’s large portal combined with its transparent facade, provides a new, much more welcoming entrance to campus.

Working closely with faculty, administrators and facility representatives from both CUNY and the College, we were able to create a building that contributes to the life of the campus, transforms the interface between the College and its neighbors and meets the pressing programmatic needs of music and theater now and into the future.

Project Data

Complete
62,000 sf
LEED Silver certified

Program & Highlights

225-seat multipurpose theater
Theater rehearsal hall
Instrument rehearsal hall
Choral rehearsal room
PIMA Center for Computer Music
Music studios
Recording studio

Collaborators

Theater, Acoustics, Structural, MEP, IT, LEED: Arup
Construction Manager: Hill International, Inc.
Civil Engimeer: KS Engineers, P.C.
Audio/Visual & Technology: Cerami & Associates, Inc.
Lighting: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design
Landscape: Mathews Nieldsen Landscape Architects, P.C.
Graphics/Signage: Two Twelve Harakawa, Inc.
Photography: Richard Barnes & Brooklyn College