It’s not everyday that students from pre-K through 12th grade get to use a state-of-the-art teaching and performance venue that includes a 515-seat full proscenium theater, black box theater, and band, choir and dance classrooms. Then again, not all students get to attend The John Cooper School, a co-educational, college prep day school, in The Woodlands, Texas.
Located on a 43-acre (17-hectare) wooded campus, the new 38,000-square-foot (3,530-m2) performing arts center was completed in July 2008. Situated at the terminus of the campus commons, it is the school’s largest and tallest building. The building massing integrates a 60-foot (18-m) fly-loft enclosure into the overall design, which lessens the “top hat” effect generally associated with this type of facility.
“Every student from K through 12 is involved in performing arts in some way, from building scenery to full-blown performances,” said Ruth Plascencia, Associate AIA, LEED AP, at Morris Architects, Houston. “The building exemplifies The John Cooper School’s attention and dedication to the arts as part of a well-rounded curriculum.”
The facility demonstrates the school’s commitment to excellence, with superb acoustics and professional theatrical capabilities that are more sophisticated than can be found on most college and university campuses.
According to Plascencia, plaster, bricks of varying types, and metal roofing and exterior facades tie the performance arts center to the campus, while providing a fresh new look that makes a statement of its own.
For the roof and front and back walls of the stage and house, Berridge Manufacturing Co., San Antonio, supplied 12,000 square feet (1,115 m2) of its 18-inch- (457-mm-) wide, 24-gauge High Seam Tee Panel in Zinc Cote metallic featuring Kynar 500.
CENTRIA, Moon Township, Pa., supplied 6,350 square feet (590 m2) of its 22-gauge CS-660 metal wall panels in Platinum with a smooth finish for the sidewalls of the stage and house.
For the black box theater walls, Umicore Building Products USA Inc., Raleigh, N.C., supplied 2,800 square feet (260 m2) of its 0.04-inch- (1-mm-) thick VM Zinc ILWP-H Panel System with 12-inch
(305-mm) coverage and 1/2-inch (13-mm) alternating reveals and concealed fasteners in Charcoal Black with an Anthra-Zinc coating.
Skweres Services Inc., Spring, Texas, installed the metal roof and wall panels, in addition to custom fabricating 550 square feet (51 m2) of 24-gauge steel downsprouts and collector boxes with a high-performance coating. Additionally, Skweres custom fabricated a 6-foot- (2-m-) deep by 94-foot- (29-m-) long trellis, six 170-square-foot (16-m2) decorative screens and five 22-foot- (7-m-) tall structural steel porch columns.
“The individual metal components established a visual programmatic order that defined the activities they enveloped. The focal points of the program consist of the theatre proper, including the house and stage, and the black box theatre-in-the-round. Therefore, an allegorical tie was created, such as in the case of the black box that is literally clad in Black Zinc Metal,” Plascencia explained. “In the case of the theatre and stage, a metal band follows the form of the fly loft at the stage, down the slope of the theatre house and then finally dematerializes at the front lobby to create a link between the visitor level to the building without being massive or imposing on the environment. Metal was able to accomplish this because of its light and ephemeral qualities that naturally highlight and enhance the most special of functions of this building program.”
The John Cooper School Performing Arts Center, The Woodlands, Texas
Award: AIA Houston 2009 Design Award
Architect: Morris Architects, Houston
General contractor: Brookstone LP, Houston
Metal installer/custom fabricator: Skweres Services Inc., Spring, Texas
Metal roofing: Berridge Manufacturing Co., San Antonio, www.berridge.com
Metal wall panels: CENTRIA, Moon Township, Pa.,
www.centria.com, and Umicore Building Products USA Inc., Raleigh, N.C., www.vmzinc-us.com
