It’s far more than a wealthy philanthropist lady’s sitting rooms, but the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center which recently opened at Gonzaga University, does have such quarters. Dedicated to the Washington philanthropist, whose generosity made the arts center possible, an exhibit at the recently opened center includes recreated sitting rooms from Myrtle Woldson’s house, replete with furniture.
But it’s really a side-note to the many features of the 52,000-sf arts center, which recently celebrated its grand opening. The building is both functional and necessary to fulfill the needs of faculty and staff of the university. It includes a 750-seat theater and was designed by Pfeiffer. The building was named for businesswoman and Spokane resident Myrtle Woldson.
See Also: ASU Health Futures Center combines a novel design and approach to learning
As is the case sometimes these days with newly built structures on university campuses, the new arts center is intended not just to meet the growing needs of the music, dance and theater departments and the rest of the campus community, but as a spot for collaboration across disciplines. It also is meant as a foundation block of a planned Arts Village, which will include the Jundt Art Center and Museum.
The newly completed building is accessible through a central lobby that could be called dramatic, given the views of Lake Arthur available from it. The structure has two primary performance spaces: the Fr. Bernard j. Coughlin, S.J. Theater, a 750-seat multipurpose theater with adjustable acoustics; and the Martin and Edwidge Woldson Recital Hall, a rehearsal and recital space which seats 170. The building also includes a multidisciplinary design studio.
Adjacent to the theater is the Woldson Wing, a recreation of the sitting rooms from Myrtle Woldson’s house, that includes her personal furnishings. The exhibit’s series of spaces are meant to educate, but also as a tribute to the donor and her commitment to the arts.
Related Stories
| Nov 9, 2010
Just how green is that college campus?
The College Sustainability Report Card 2011 evaluated colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada with the 300 largest endowments—plus 22 others that asked to be included in the GreenReportCard.org study—on nine categories, including climate change, energy use, green building, and investment priorities. More than half (56%) earned a B or better, but 6% got a D. Can you guess which is the greenest of these: UC San Diego, Dickinson College, University of Calgary, and Dartmouth? Hint: The Red Devil has turned green.
| Nov 9, 2010
Designing a library? Don’t focus on books
How do you design a library when print books are no longer its core business? Turn them into massive study halls. That’s what designers did at the University of Amsterdam, where they transformed the existing 27,000-sf library into a study center—without any visible books. About 2,000 students visit the facility daily and encounter workspaces instead of stacks.
| Nov 3, 2010
First of three green labs opens at Iowa State University
Designed by ZGF Architects, in association with OPN Architects, the Biorenewable Research Laboratory on the Ames campus of Iowa State University is the first of three projects completed as part of the school’s Biorenewables Complex. The 71,800-sf LEED Gold project is one of three wings that will make up the 210,000-sf complex.
| Nov 3, 2010
Seattle University’s expanded library trying for LEED Gold
Pfeiffer Partners Architects, in collaboration with Mithun Architects, programmed, planned, and designed the $55 million renovation and expansion of Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons at Seattle University. The LEED-Gold-designed facility’s green features include daylighting, sustainable and recycled materials, and a rain garden.
| Nov 3, 2010
Recreation center targets student health, earns LEED Platinum
Not only is the student recreation center at the University of Arizona, Tucson, the hub of student life but its new 54,000-sf addition is also super-green, having recently attained LEED Platinum certification.
| Nov 3, 2010
Virginia biofuel research center moving along
The Sustainable Energy Technology Center has broken ground in October on the Danville, Va., campus of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. The 25,000-sf facility will be used to develop enhanced bio-based fuels, and will house research laboratories, support labs, graduate student research space, and faculty offices. Rainwater harvesting, a vegetated roof, low-VOC and recycled materials, photovoltaic panels, high-efficiency plumbing fixtures and water-saving systems, and LED light fixtures will be deployed. Dewberry served as lead architect, with Lord Aeck & Sargent serving as laboratory designer and sustainability consultant. Perigon Engineering consulted on high-bay process labs. New Atlantic Contracting is building the facility.
| Nov 3, 2010
Dining center cooks up LEED Platinum rating
Students at Bowling Green State University in Ohio will be eating in a new LEED Platinum multiuse dining center next fall. The 30,000-sf McDonald Dining Center will have a 700-seat main dining room, a quick-service restaurant, retail space, and multiple areas for students to gather inside and out, including a fire pit and several patios—one of them on the rooftop.
| Nov 1, 2010
John Pearce: First thing I tell designers: Do your homework!
John Pearce, FAIA, University Architect at Duke University, Durham, N.C., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the school’s construction plans and sustainability efforts, how to land work at Duke, and why he’s proceeding with caution when it comes to BIM.
| Oct 13, 2010
Editorial
The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.
| Oct 13, 2010
Campus building gives students a taste of the business world
William R. Hough Hall is the new home of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The $17.6 million, 70,000-sf building gives students access to the latest technology, including a lab that simulates the stock exchange.
