The 88,000-sf Swope School of Music and Performing Arts Center features a complex S-shaped facade and piano-shaped floor plan.

The building provides both the university and the community with improved performing arts spaces. The structural complexities of the building’s S-shaped façade and piano-shaped floor plan were compounded by poor soil conditions. Keast & Hood provided structural engineering for the new steel-framed, three-story building. The structure rests on a foundation of compacted stone piers to counteract swamp-like soil conditions. The Dr. Charles E. Swope School of Music portion of the building looks like a grand piano in plan. Music practice rooms feature non-square walls and are acoustically isolated for the best sound quality. Within the rhombus-shaped performing arts areas of the building, a grid was designed beneath the roof structure; it provides for flexible arrangements of sound baffles, lights, and stage props. The facility includes concrete floors and brick and precast-concrete panel walls. Features include a 375-seat performance theater, a 100-seat recital hall, classrooms, faculty offices, rehearsal and practice rooms, a library, and art galleries. The facility is certified LEED Silver.

The 88,000-sf Swope School of Music and Performing Arts Center features a complex S-shaped facade and piano-shaped floor plan.

The building provides both the university and the community with improved performing arts spaces. The structural complexities of the building’s S-shaped façade and piano-shaped floor plan were compounded by poor soil conditions. Keast & Hood provided structural engineering for the new steel-framed, three-story building. The structure rests on a foundation of compacted stone piers to counteract swamp-like soil conditions. The Dr. Charles E. Swope School of Music portion of the building looks like a grand piano in plan. Music practice rooms feature non-square walls and are acoustically isolated for the best sound quality. Within the rhombus-shaped performing arts areas of the building, a grid was designed beneath the roof structure; it provides for flexible arrangements of sound baffles, lights, and stage props. The facility includes concrete floors and brick and precast-concrete panel walls. Features include a 375-seat performance theater, a 100-seat recital hall, classrooms, faculty offices, rehearsal and practice rooms, a library, and art galleries. The facility is certified LEED Silver.

CLIENT: MGA Partners, Architects
LOCATION: West Chester, PA

TYPE: Academic, Cultural, SERVICES: New Construction, Seismic, MATERIALS: Steel, SUSTAINABILITY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Completed project photography © Barry Halkin Construction photography © Jeffrey Totaro