New performing arts center embodies area’s unique population
by Jonathan McGaha | April 30, 2010 12:00 am
The Sequoia Union High School District, which serves the California communities of Menlo Park and Atherton, needed a performing arts center that would embody and showcase the cultural, ecological and technological realties of its unique population. Its divergent community includes the children of Silicon Valley, as well as the children of migrant workers who work in the surrounding orchards. The new Menlo-Atherton Performing Arts Center in Atherton, Calif., would also need to be at home in the surrounding landscape that is covered with many historic oak trees. Being the only such facility in the region, there was a considerable incentive to provide superlative performing technology, including world class acoustic capabilities.
Hodgetts+Fung, Culver City, Calif., was chosen as the architect for the project. According to architect Craig Hodgetts of Hodgetts+Fung, the school district wanted a warm, welcoming look for the facility, rather than the coolness of stainless steel. He explained:“We chose an oak tree vocabulary for the design, with branching steel struts that echo a surrounding landscape that is covered with historic oaks. Inside, that motif is repeated with laser cut panels of oak leaves.” According to Hodgetts, a copper roof would have been well suited to the building’s design, but copper was well beyond the district’s budget.
In searching for a reasonable alternative, Hodgetts consulted with Cleveland-based The Garland Co. Inc. Garland was able to provide a Champagne-colored Garland R-Mer Loc structural standing-seam roof system, which approaches th warmth and luster of the more expensive copper. The design, with its multi directional alignments of the various roof planes, established a challenging aesthetic that is at once vibrant and serene.
To attain acoustical excellence, the architect collaborated with Paul Scarborough, one of the finest acoustic engineers in the world, to specify the particulars of the building’s interior regarding sound. Underscoring the success of this effort is the fact that, shortly after completion of the facility, several world-renowned performers began negotiating for the use of the Center to record their performances.
The Center has been assimilated into active and regular use by the district residents. It blends with natural grace into the surrounding landscape, fulfilling the aspirations of its designers and its community.
The Garland Co. Inc., www.garlandco.com
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/new-performing-arts-center-embodies-areas-unique-population/