Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Messiah College

Calvin and Janet High Center for Worship and Performing Arts

  • 08/01/13
Messiah College 

PHOTOS © NATHAN COX

Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA, recently opened the 92,000-square-foot Calvin and Janet High Center for Worship and Performing Arts. The music program had long outgrown their previous facility and desperately needed updated rehearsal and performance space. Completed in January, the High Center has exceeded the expectations of both faculty and students.

The focal point of the building is the 778-seat Parmer Hall, created to host musical concerts, worship services, lectures and other events. The large stage can accommodate a 100-piece orchestra with a choral terrace for 116 singers above. The acoustical design of the room has features that allow an incredible presence and warmth for unamplified musical ensembles along with crisp, clear sound from amplified groups on stage.

Outside of Parmer Hall, music education and rehearsals were the driving force for design. A smaller performance venue located just across the corridor is the High Foundation Recital Hall. This 156-seat room emulates the incredible acoustics of Parmer Hall on a smaller scale. It hosts numerous music recitals, small lectures and academic classes. Nearby, there is an instrumental rehearsal room for large bands and orchestras, a choral rehearsal room for the college’s many vocal ensembles and a chamber rehearsal room for smaller music groups such as brass quintets or string quartets.

Each room was designed for maximum flexibility in order to be easily reconfigured to accommodate the needs of any group. There is also a classroom, a keyboard instruction lab and a fully functional recording studio. Students can practice in one of eighteen private rehearsal rooms.

Twenty faculty offices, which double as private teaching studios, line the perimeter of the building. Student instrument storage is provided in custom-made cabinets kept in closets throughout the facility.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management August 2013 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Niles West High School Natatorium Renovation

    Natatoriums are highly specialized spaces, and luminaires in this setting face several unique challenges. Perhaps the most significant is corrosion, which is exacerbated by high indoor humidity, condensation, and pool chemicals, often resulting in material degradation in luminaires not certified to perform in corrosive environments.

  • University of Pittsburgh to Build New Residence Hall

    The Board of Trustees from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Penn., recently approved the construction of a new residence hall for first-year students, according to university news.

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Education Design Showcase Awards

    Spaces4Learning has opened submissions for the 2026 Education Design Showcase! The awards program launched in 1999 with the goal of celebrating innovative, practical solutions in the planning, design, and construction of K–12 and higher-education facilities. EDS recognizes new developments that help achieve optimal learning environments, as well as the architecture firms that brought the ideas to life.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.