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Redesigned Frost Amphitheater completes, opens at Stanford University

Performing Arts Centers

Redesigned Frost Amphitheater completes, opens at Stanford University

CAW Architects designed the project.


By David Malone, Managing Editor | August 10, 2021
Frost Amphitheater Stanford

Courtesy CAW Architects

The Laurence Frost Amphitheater redesign has completed at Stanford University.

The amphitheater was originally built in 1937 to host university functions and events. The space quickly evolved to host community events, musical acts, and classical concerts before falling into disuse over the past few decades due to lack of accessibility and production infrastructure.

The redesigned Frost Amphitheater

The goal of the Frost Amphitheater's recent redesign was to create greater accessibility for larger acts to play and the ability to house student shows and various university events. Additionally, CAW’s design mission was to create a more modern experience while preserving the beauty and serenity of the historic site. The modernization was achieved by the creation of curved tunnels for wayfinding and crowd management and a curved wall that serves as a shield to the stage building beyond.

Frost Amphitheater Curved Tunnels

New entrances to the amphitheater were created by designing a unique and strategically placed system of tunnels through the tree-covered slopes. Guest amenities, an updated service and stage entrance, a stage building with a canopy cover to protect the performers, and upgraded lighting and sound infrastructure were also included in the redesign.

When the amphitheater opens without any social distancing restrictions up to 8,000 guests can be accommodated.

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