John Adams Performing Arts Center

Knitting Campus and Community Together

The John Adams Performing Arts Center is a dynamic arts environment shared by Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and Santa Monica College, California’s #1 transfer college for over thirty years. The Performing Arts Center amplifies opportunities for diverse students to cultivate their talents while creating a vibrant social and cultural platform for the surrounding community. Extending along the public face of the John Adams campus fronting Pearl Street in Santa Monica, the new Performing Arts Center establishes a strong visual identity for the school while engaging Santa Monica College located directly across the street. In addition to serving its host middle school campus, the Center will support Santa Monica College as a venue for its performing arts and educational programming, strengthening the relationship between the two schools.

The design integrates the needs of both college and middle school students, resulting in an inspiring incubator where students of all ages can explore and develop their artistic voices. The Center will also be activated by community and church groups, youth organizations, and local businesses seeking spaces for neighborhood presentations and public gathering. The openness of The Center’s design reflects the school district’s goal of creating a thriving, active hub that promotes cultural engagement, facilitating interaction between students, faculty, artists, and the community. Performance and rehearsal spaces open to an outdoor courtyard that acknowledges the character of the existing campus and takes advantage of the temperate climate to create flexible spaces for informal gathering and improvisational performance.

The Center features a state-of-the-art 750-seat auditorium tailored to meet the needs of the notable John Adams music program. The auditorium’s acoustic design accommodates a variety of ensemble performance within a cost-efficient configuration that also supports a full range of theatrical productions. This adaptability is achieved through the integration of a Meyer Sound electronic acoustic system. This technology enables a diverse spectrum of creative presentations, including theater, orchestra, band, dance, lectures, and more. This innovative technology also allows the hall to have a more economical volume than would otherwise be possible utilizing a traditional passive design approach.

A large, flexible rehearsal space complements the main auditorium by supporting music and dance, as well as hosting community events and classroom functions. Practice rooms, dedicated classrooms, offices, and libraries for orchestra, band, and choir classes round out the Performing Arts Center’s program. “HGA stood out as creative problem solvers. They dove into our project suggesting solutions for making the theater function for our multiple needs,” said Carey Upton, Chief Operations Officer. “The outcome is a professional, flexible theater space that will support the varied events of the school, college and community.”