Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Point Park University: Pittsburgh Playhouse and Academic Complex

  • 04/01/19
point park university

PHOTOS © KEVIN G REEVES PHOTOGRAPHER, IMAGES COURTESY OF DLR GROUP|WRL

DLR Group|Westlake Reed Leskosky’s design for the new Point Park University Pittsburgh Playhouse and Academic Complex provides state-of-the-art facilities for the university’s nationally recognized Conservatory of Performing Arts (COPA) program. The playhouse is a League of Resident Theatres member and plays a crucial role in cultivating skills that enable students to pursue careers as working artists. The new facility houses the university’s four performance companies and incorporates two historic structures: University Center and the Stock Exchange Building.

Situated on 1.5 acres at the university’s downtown Pittsburgh campus, the 90,411-square-foot complex is a substantial addition. The project includes three new theaters: a 550-seat proscenium/thrust main stage and multi-form 212-seat “transformational theater,” both of which feature variable enclosures that allow each venue to play to its urban neighborhood, and a 102-seat black box venue. It also houses a sound stage, scenery shop, prop shop, paint shop, costume shop, television studio, scenic design and general classrooms, rehearsal halls, acting studios, classrooms, and faculty offices as well as public amenities such as lobbies, concessions, ticket/business office, and performer support.

The tight urban site created a planning challenge for the proscenium, requiring the venue to abut the sidewalk and precluding conventional access from the rear of the theater. DLR Group|WRL responded to this constraint by developing patron access from the side of the theater and developed an asymmetrical seating arrangement that responds to patron flow. Positioning the main stage to be visible from the street connects passersby to the university and its creative programs, and the Playhouse’s location in the city’s downtown business district offers Pittsburgh a unique cultural attraction that will positively impact the local economy.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management April/May 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Hawaii Elementary School Reopens Following $25M Campus Modernization

    Haʻaheo Elementary School in Hilo, Hawaii, has reopened to students following a three-year, $25-million campus modernization and expansion project that significantly increases the school's instructional space while preserving one of the island's oldest educational institutions, according to local news.

  • Cleveland High School Breaks Ground on Modernization

    Portland Public Schools in Portland, Ore., recently announced that construction has begun on a modernization project for Cleveland High School, according to a news release. The existing building will be replaced with a new, 300,000-square-foot facility at the same site.

  • Minnesota District Opens New PreK–12 School

    Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Schools in Gibbon, Minn., recently announced that construction is complete on a new, $68.9-million school for students in grades PreK–12, according to a news release.

  • St. John Fisher University

    Classroom Revitalization – Basil Hall Room 216

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. St. John Fisher University's Basil Hall Room 216 Classroom Revitalization has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of Spaces.