The Fine Arts Center is designed to incorporate public spaces, private offices and classroom areas, studio spaces, practice rooms, rehearsal halls, and an 80-seat lecture hall. The center provides public access to an art exhibition gallery and a 500-car seat choral and orchestral concert hall, which is the focal point of the facility. The concert hall design is based on a combination of the turn-of-the-century Viennese music halls and the "shoe box" music halls. Every corner and detail, from the seating and chandelier to the ceiling and flooring, have been analyzed for the best possible acoustics. The selected project design has includes the public space, the music department, and the art department. The exterior of the building is sculptural in appearance, incorporating a diagonal brick pattern and random window configuration. Although its design and materials, red brick and limestone, complement the existing architecture on campus, it creates a distinctive, new image which reflects the University's commitment to and interest in the arts.

The state-of-the-art concert hall was a structurally challenging component of the building. Built-up barrel roof trusses were used to span the open hall and to meet the architectural requirements. The two-level balcony, within the concert hall, required the use of structural steel moment connections to achieve the necessary cantilevered construction.

Project Details: Project Completion 1994