Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Colburn School in Los Angeles Breaks Ground on Campus Expansion

  • By Matt Jones
  • 04/10/24

The Colburn School in Los Angeles, Calif., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a 100,000-square-foot expansion designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, according to a news release. The Colburn School is a music and dance education and performance institute that offers services to people of all ages, from 7-month-olds to adults. The school’s new building, the Colburn Center, will increase the school’s training and performance facilities and stand adjacent to the existing Grand Avenue campus.

“The Colburn Center will be a game changer, stepping up everything we do for the school’s own community, for our peer organizations that make the LA artistic ecosystem so vibrant, and for the public that we look forward to welcoming,” said Colburn School President and CEO Sel Kardan. “At Colburn, making performances accessible to LA audiences is as much a part of our core mission as making first-rate music and dance education available to everyone. These are the same values we see in the wonderful design by Frank Gehry: artistic excellence at the highest level, combined with a deep love for the dynamism and diversity that animate life in a great city.”

According to the news release, the Colburn Center will stand alongside the Walt Disney Concert Hall and The Grand complex—also designed by Gehry—to form the largest concentration of the architect’s work in the world.

Principal design features include a 1,000-seat theater performance space, four studios for dance classes and rehearsal, and other teaching and support facilities, according to a project fact sheet, as well as a natural-light-filled entrance and gardens at street and rooftop levels. All performance and rehearsal spaces were designed to accommodate a wide variety of potential configurations and productions.

“This is a long time coming, and I am so grateful for everyone who helped make it possible,” said Gehry. “For me, this building is very special. It adds significant opportunity for growth in music, music education, and collaboration inside of Colburn and with the other arts institutions in LA. I really believe it will unlock untold riches in the cultural community here in LA and I am honored to be a part of it.”

The Colburn School is partnering with McCarthy Building Companies for the project’s construction, the news release reports.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Preparing for the Next Era of Healthcare Education, Innovation

    Across the country, public universities and community colleges are accelerating investments in healthcare education facilities as part of a broader strategy to address workforce shortages, modernize outdated infrastructure, and expand clinical training capacity. These projects, which are often located at the center of campus health and science districts, are no longer limited to traditional classrooms.

  • UNT Dallas Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for $100M STEM Building

    The University of North Texas at Dallas in Dallas, Texas, recently celebrated the opening of its new, $100-million STEM Building, according to local news. The ceremony on Dec. 2 preceded the first day of classes in the facility on Jan. 12, 2026.

  • Illinois District Boosts Security at High-School Stadium

    Richmond-Burton Community High School in Richmond, Ill., recently announced that it has completed the redesigned entrance to its high school stadium with a new focus on school security and community engagement, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects and Engineers on the project as part of District #157’s year-long facilities master plan.

  • Spaces4Learning Trends & Predictions for Educational Facilities in 2026: Part II

    As education leaders look toward 2026, the design of K–12 and higher education facilities is being reshaped by powerful, converging forces. Survey respondents point to the rapid growth of Career and Technical Education, deeper alignment with workforce and industry needs, and the accelerating influence of AI and emerging technologies.

Digital Edition