A project team that included the designer BOKA Powell and general contractor McCarthy Building Companies recently completed the 55,000-sf Noble Family Performing Arts Center on the Midway campus of Parish Episcopal School in North Dallas.
That same team was involved in another of this school’s expansions, the 24,000-sf Gene E. Phillips Activity Center, which opened for the 2017-2018 school year.
The private Parish Episcopal School celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Since 2002 it has owned and operated out of what once was ExxonMobil’s Pei Cobb Freed-designed corporate headquarters. The school currently has about 1,200 Pre-K through 12th-grade students and 150 faculty. Its new Performing Arts Center “will play a pivotal role as we celebrate our history and launch a future of limitless possibilities for our students,” said Dave Monaco, Allen Meyer Family Head of School, in a prepared statement.
DESIGN CONTINUITY
The new facility consists of various spaces that include a 515-seat performance hall whose chamber is more than 50 ft tall. A Black Box theater has an audience capacity of 120. The facility features a music hall, rehearsal rooms, and a film screening room. The back-of-house spaces include a scene shop, dressing rooms with a tailoring shop, storage areas, offices, and a storm shelter. A Gallery Space displays works by students and visiting artists.
Parish Episcopal School engaged BOKA Powell—which provided architecture and interior design services—to envision a new building in keeping with the campus’ existing style. During construction, which began in November 2019, McCarthy deployed BIM models, laser scans of the slab, and aerial images, according to the firm’s region president Joe Jourvenal.
The Performing Arts Center connects to existing buildings and incorporates many of the same materials. Pre-cast concrete panels are arranged in a rhythmic pattern to capture the sunlight in a theatrical manner as a reinterpretation of the dramatic north light of the existing Great Hall vault. A grand entrance welcomes guests into a naturally lit lobby.
The completed project has optimized acoustics and a control room with the latest light and sound equipment.
The performing arts center is named in honor of the three children of Natalie and Scott Noble, who invested $3.7 million in the school’s “Limitless” fundraising campaign.
Click here for a short virtual tour of the new building.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Nov 6, 2023
Top 110 Cultural Facility Architecture Firms for 2023
Populous, Gensler, HGA, DLR Group, and Quinn Evans top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest cultural facilities sector architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue from all cultural building sectors, including concert venues, art galleries, museums, performing arts centers, and public libraries.
Performing Arts Centers | Oct 30, 2023
A long-delayed theater will soon open inside a popular Texas entertainment hub
Rayleigh Underground’s design mixes the latest technology with the sense of being in an excavated space.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 115 Architecture Engineering Firms for 2023
Stantec, HDR, Page, HOK, and Arcadis North America top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
2023 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
A record 552 AEC firms submitted data for BD+C's 2023 Giants 400 Report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 175 Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, HKS, Perkins&Will, Corgan, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Performing Arts Centers | Jul 18, 2023
Perelman Performing Arts Center will soon open at Ground Zero
In September, New York City will open a new performing arts center in Lower Manhattan, two decades after the master plan for Ground Zero called for a cultural component there. At a cost of $500 million, including $130 million donated by former mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the Perelman Performing Arts Center (dubbed PAC NYC) is a 138-foot-tall cube-shaped building that glows at night.
Performing Arts Centers | Jun 20, 2023
Designing arts spaces that curate inclusivity
GBBN's Julia Clements and Marcene Kinney, AIA, LEED AP, talk tips for designing inclusive arts spaces.
Museums | Jun 6, 2023
New wing of Natural History Museums of Los Angeles to be a destination and portal
NHM Commons, a new wing and community hub under construction at The Natural History Museums (NHM) of Los Angeles County, was designed to be both a destination and a portal into the building and to the surrounding grounds.
Performing Arts Centers | Jun 6, 2023
Mumbai, India’s new Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre has three performing arts venues
In Mumbai, India, the recently completed Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) will showcase music, theater, and fine arts from India and from across the globe. Atlanta’s TVS Design served as the principal architect and interior designer of both the cultural center and the larger, adjacent Jio World Centre.
Architects | Jun 6, 2023
Taking storytelling to a new level in building design, with Gensler's Bob Weis and Andy Cohen
Bob Weis, formerly the head of Disney Imagineering, was recently hired by Gensler as its Global Immersive Experience Design Leader. He joins the firm's co-CEO Andy Cohen to discuss how Gensler will focus on storytelling to connect people to its projects.
