Performing arts venue with a diverse media arts program

This $62m project brings together the Media Arts and the Performing Arts Department into a single complex for a more collaborative learning environment at the Los Angeles Valley College. It will feature classrooms, study, and rehearsal spaces, a newsroom and radio station, faculty offices, and four separate theatres—a 450-seat main stage theatre, a 225-seat screening theatre, a 150-seat horseshoe theatre, and an 80-seat lab theatre. In addition, there will be an outdoor amphitheatre for outdoor performances and concerts.

Arup optimised the acoustic design of the theatre, originally designed with variable acoustic technology, to support a variety of events from lecture to symphonic ensembles. Using the Arup SoundLab, the team was able to listen to the room acoustics during the design process and evaluate the space at various seating positions and for a selection of performance types.

In total, Arup provided structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and civil engineering, as well as fire/life safety, acoustic, audio visual, ITC, and security consulting. The Performing and Media Arts Center is set to open at the end of 2012.