A new academic year is underway at the Center that offers an inspiring setting for a wide range of students to explore and develop their artistic voices across a variety of performance mediums.
Extending along the public face of the John Adams campus on Pearl Street in Santa Monica, California, the 46,000-square-foot Performing Arts Center is a new, dynamic arts environment for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD). In addition to serving and establishing a strong visual identity for its host middle school campus, the Center engages and supports nearby Santa Monica College as a venue for its performing arts and educational programming.
Designed by national interdisciplinary firm, HGA, to carefully integrate the distinct needs of both its middle school and college users, the Center provides new spaces for these diverse student populations within a setting that invites the surrounding community to feel equally at home. The openness of the Center’s overall design reflects SMMUSD’s goal of creating a thriving, active hub that promotes community building around the arts and facilitates interaction between students across the district, faculty, artists and the surrounding residential community.
“The new Performing Arts Center is a wonderful addition to our school and broader community, providing a state-of-the-art facility for our students, along with a beautiful centerpiece in our community for live music, performing arts, classes and events,” said Dr. Ben Drati, SMMUSD Superintendent. “We are appreciative of our partnership with Santa Monica College to bring this vision to reality for all to enjoy!”
The new Center features a 750-seat auditorium tailored to meet the needs of the notable music program. A large, flexible rehearsal space and adjacent exterior terrace complements the auditorium, supporting music and dance as well as hosting community events and classroom functions. Tucked away at the edge of campus, the multi-purpose community venue hosts multiple school and community events daily. All of this promotes human engagement and connections, while improving institutional transparency.
Practice rooms, back of house spaces, dedicated classrooms, offices and libraries for orchestra, band and choir classes round out the Center’s 34,000 square feet of indoor space. Performance, lobby and rehearsal spaces open to an outdoor courtyard that takes advantage of the temperate climate to create an additional 12,000 square feet of flexible exterior spaces for informal gathering.
Designed by HGA with consultation from Auerbach Pollock Friedlander (theater) and McKay Conant Hoover (acoustics), the auditorium’s acoustic design accommodates a variety of ensemble performances within a cost-efficient configuration that also supports a range of theatrical presentations. Adaptability is achieved through the integration of a Meyer Sound electronic acoustic system, enabling the auditorium to have a lower physical profile and smaller footprint than would otherwise be possible utilizing a traditional passive design approach.
“With all of the varied constituencies that will be utilizing the new Center, it was important to our team that we ensured each group has its needs fully met through a flexible design,” said John Frane, design principal at HGA and lead project designer. “Beyond its function, we also wanted to create a truly beautiful space that considers and builds upon the historic design elements of the JAMS campus.”
Integrated into the community’s social and transportation network, many amenities, bus routes, and dedicated bike lanes support the project’s expansive constituency. Though primarily serving the middle school as a Performing Arts Center, it supports presentations across the educational spectrum. Collaboration with Santa Monica College and local neighborhood and business partners identified space needs and emphasized flexibility. The main hall utilizes specialized acoustic technology that supports a range of performances and presentations, from a single student soloist to a local recovering meeting, to the presentation of a new product roll out by a local business.
The overall design acknowledges the character of the existing, post-war JAMS campus, which is defined by simple linear, volumetric structures connected by a series of covered walkways and interconnected courtyards that serve a range of programmatic uses from circulation, to play space, to learning gardens as well as outdoor classrooms and art making spaces. It also considers the various fronts of the new Center including balancing the entry identity on Pearl Street to connect seamlessly to Santa Monica College while providing the Center an externally facing front door that respects and complements the iconic Koenig Eisenberg entryway.