Vukovich Center for Communication Arts

Location
Meadville PA

Institution
Allegheny College

Architect
Ennead Architects

Acoustician
JaffeHolden

Construction Manager
Massaro Corporation

Awards
2010 USITT Merit Award
2010 AIA New York State Excellence in Design
2010 AIA Pittsburgh Honor Award
2010 Society of Registered American Architects, Pennsylvania Council, Award of Excellence

Set into a hillside with a green roof garden, the Vukovich Center contains an intimate 250-seat proscenium theater, a small studio theater, and a soundstage and editing suites for video production. The compact building also houses classrooms and scenery, prop, and costume shops. The small proscenium theater has a full size stagehouse and a unique forestage platform system that allows for orchestra pits, traps, or a recessed performance area. Students are trained in the use of counterweight rigging and state-of-the-art lighting, sound, and video equipment in the bright and colorful building. Plenty of daylight enters the interior spaces through skylights and clerestory windows. Nextstage Design principal Tony Forman served as project manager for Theatre Projects during construction of the new facility and final testing of its equipment.

Construction Type
New construction

Square Feet
40,000

Cost
$16 million

Completion
2009

Users
Communication Arts Department, Playshop Theatre

Spaces
250-seat multipurpose theater, studio theater, soundstage

Photography © Aislinn Weidele / Ennead Architects