Washington
Pavilion of Arts and Science
INTRODUCTION
The Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science transforms historic Washington High School to house three cultural entities. The Husby Performing Arts Center occupies the center of the building and includes the 1900-seat Great Hall, the 300-seat Belbas theater, and a multi-purpose hall. The Visual Arts Center occupies the four floors of the building’s 1906 north wing and features five major galleries. The Kirby Science Discovery Center occupies the four floors of the 1917 south wing and includes the Wells Fargo CineDome, a new large format domed theater, constructed adjacent to the southeast corner of the original building. The Pavilion’s four-story lobby in the 1934 east wing is organized around two fifty foot high, light filled atria.
PROGRAM
A Performing Arts Center had been a community dream since 1955. The Sioux Falls Coliseum, the only large performance venue in Sioux Falls closed in 1996 when a section of ceiling fell. So when two local women had the idea to convert an empty high school building into a unique combination of Performing Arts, Visual Arts and Science Discovery Center to be called the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science, it was approved in a City referendum.
PROGRAM
The Husby Performing Arts Center would be the centerpiece of the Pavilion. It would include: The 1,900 seat Great Hall; a flexible venue with a proscenium stage and adjustable acoustics to accommodate a wide range of performances The 300 seat Belbus Small Theater; also a flexible venue intended to incorporate features of fixed seat and black box theaters A multi-use/rehearsal hall Support space including a variety of dressing rooms, offices, loading dock and pre-assembly space A small outdoor performance area
PROGRAM
The Civic Fine Arts Center, later the Visual Arts Center, was established in 1961 and most recently occupied the historic Carnegie Library building near the Pavilion site. For its move to the Pavilion, the Visual Center needed: A variety of gallery spaces Art storage and processing space Offices and a gift shop A sculpture garden Finely tuned temperature and humidity control and security systems to protect the art.
PROGRAM
The Kirby Science Discovery Center was to be modeled after similar centers in other communities to provide a place for children and adults to discover science in a fun, hands-on way. The Science Center would include: Permanent and traveling exhibit space Exhibit processing space A 175 seat large format domed theater to be called the Wells Fargo CineDome A museum store and office space A small outdoor exhibit space (“ dino-dig” )
Common areas serving the three entities were to include lobbies, ticketing information, coat rooms, rest rooms (over 72 fixtures), and Leonardo’s Café.
SITE / BUILDING
The site is the historic former Washington Senior High School, a four story building occupying a full city block bounded by 11th and 12th Streets and Main and Dakota Avenues in downtown Sioux Falls.
Regional Map
Sioux Falls Map
SITE / BUILDING
The high school had been built in three phases: the north wing in 1906, the south wing in 1917 and the central section in 1934. Like many prominent historic buildings in Sioux Falls, the high school was built of quartzite, a locally quarried stone considered the 2nd hardest stone after diamond. The first floors of the school’s three sections were on different levels, while the other three floors were aligned. The central section housed a large gymnasium and an auditorium.
The Pavilion program is organized on the high school site to conserve the historic structure and to use its character defining features to the advantage of each program entity.
SITE / BUILDING
Primary access is located on Main Avenue where the school’s main entry had been since 1934. Two existing entrances and one new entrance lead to a lobby which fills the entire four stories of the building’s east wing.
Because of the first floor’s varying levels and its relatively low ceiling height, the first floor was made a service floor. People enter the tiled first floor lobby, check their coats, pick up their tickets and ascend to the second floor lobby via two sweeping staircases set in light filled four-story atria. The second floor, in the spirit of the piano nobile, is the main floor of the Pavilion where entrances to the Performing Arts Center, Visual Arts Center and Science Discovery Center are situated. Large restored windows provide those inside with a great view of the City and provide those outside with a great view of the activity inside the Pavilion.
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The Performing Arts Center is placed largely in the 1934 central wing of the building. Here the footprint of the school’s gymnasium and auditorium provide a site for the Great Hall and Small Theatre. Constructed as two separate structures within the “ hole of the donut” of the high school structure, the Great Hall and Small Theatre are acoustically isolated from each other and the rest of the building.
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The six-story Great Hall rises two floor levels above the roof of the original building. Its 1,900 seats are divided between orchestra, mezzanine and balcony levels. To provide access, the levels of the hall are in complex alignment with the floor levels of the original building. Behind the balcony is a follow spot booth and above the ceiling is a fully walkable service level providing access to ductwork, lights and acoustical drapery adjustment mechanisms.
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
A series of three curved catwalks and a forestage technical deck are screened by a series of cascading forms which allow the technology to be seen, but not dominate. The stage house is 85’ tall with a full grid; the stage incorporates six traps and a 750 square foot lift which converts the stage front to an orchestra pit.
Acoustical fabric banners may be lowered from the ceiling when needed, for example, at intermission of a South Dakota Symphony concert to modify the acoustics to accommodate the Moody Blues after an earlier violin sonata.
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The design of the Hall juxtaposes its cascading seating and sinuous forestage canopy against a background of tall wood and stone arches, which draw the eye up to explore the volume of the space.
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The quartzite stone in the arches is not an original part of the building. Although quarried in Sioux Falls, it was acquired at the Architect’s request when the State razed an old building at a State prison. The quartzite was included to create a unique Sioux Falls material palette.
To date, the Great Hall has successfully presented a wide variety of musical, dance and theatrical performances. Following the New York Philharmonic’s inaugural Great Hall performance, Maestro Curt Maser pronounced the Hall miraculous and many musicians compared it to advantage with their home venue, New York’s Avery Fischer Hall.
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The 300 seat Small Theatre is a fixed seat venue that may be converted, by adding a stage extension platform over a lowered seating area, to a flexible theater that may be configured in a variety of ways.
VISUAL ARTS CENTER
The Visual Arts Center is placed in the 1906 north wing where it takes advantage of well proportioned gallery spaces including the former school’s library with its large north facing arched windows, restored with the project. Original stairs are retained and restored. Galleries are located on the 2nd and 3rd floors above art storage and processing on the 1st (service) floor. The galleries and art storage areas are vertically aligned in the center of the north wing where they are encapsulated and served by an HVAC system designed to deliver constant temperature and 50% relative humidity. The original building is protected from the humidity by a double wall system with the space between the gallery walls and the original exterior wall conditioned with the air used in the rest of the building. To date, the new Visual Arts Center has successfully hosted several touring shows of national importance and increased visitation more than 1,000 percent.
SCIENCE DISCOVERY CENTER
The Science Discovery Center is placed in the 1917 south wing of the building where it takes advantage of a relatively flexible, open floor plan. Exhibit space is organized on floors 2, 3 and 4, above first floor processing (service) space.
SCIENCE DISCOVERY CENTER
A transparent link provides access from the historic building to the new large format theater. The theater is placed directly in the center of the street to increase the Pavilion visibility and to help mark the Pavilion’s main entrance.
SCIENCE DISCOVERY CENTER
The Architect convinced the City to close 12th Street to create a site for this theater and its sound system which precludes its placement inside the main structure.
OUTDOOR SPACES
Sculpture Garden
A secondary entrance from Dakota Avenue on the west provides convenient access to the Small Theater and multi-use/rehearsal hall. Open area on the north side of the building was conserved for the sculpture garden and the outdoor performance venue. Loading was placed at the northwest corner. The Science Center’s outdoor exhibit area and a cafÊ seating area were placed on the south side. Banner screens were designed (not built) to accentuate the entrances and enliven the building facades. Banners were installed on the north and south facades.
Outdoor Performance Plaza
SYSTEMS
Lighting in the lobbies includes half globe fixtures to create a festive feeling in a historic context and low-voltage lighting adds sparkle. Galleries and exhibit areas use a 60-amp buss track that allows exhibits to be powered from the track. Fixtures are interchangeable throughout the Pavilion.
SYSTEMS
A complex HVAC system is unobtrusively woven into the fabric of the historic structure in lobbies and exhibit areas. Ceilings are placed within 4 inches of the underside of the concrete structure by moving ductwork to enclosures which run under the windows. In the Great Hall, air is delivered noiselessly from large openings in the stepped ceiling.
FLOORPLANS
4th
3rd
2nd
1st
Lower
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Orchestra Pit Trap Dressing Piano Storage Laundry Storage Mech. / Elect.
FLOORPLANS
VISUAL ARTS CENTER A. Receiving B. Exhibit Preparation C. Collection Storage PERFORMANCE CENTER & COMMON AREAS
4th
3rd
2nd
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
Lobby Tickets Coats Great Hall Pit Stage Small Theater Small Theater Lobby Multiuse / Rehearsal Green Room Pre Assembly Loading Dock Star Dressing CafĂŠ Kitchen
SCIENCE DISCOVERY CENTER
1st
Lower
a. b. c. d. e. f.
Staff Exhibit Preparation Link Viewing Projector Cinedome
FLOORPLANS
VISUAL ARTS CENTER A. B. C. D. E.
Museum Store Children's Center Gallery Setup Staff
PERFORMANCE CENTER & COMMON AREAS
4th
3rd
2nd
1st
Lower
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Lobby / Concessions Great Hall Small Theater Rehearsal / Multi-use Dressing Storage
SCIENCE DISCOVERY CENTER a. b. c. d. e. f. g.
Tickets / Information Cinedome Queuing Gift Shop Exhibits Children’s Center Link Cinedome
FLOORPLANS
VISUAL ARTS CENTER A. Gallery B. Setup C. Board Room PERFORMANCE CENTER & COMMON AREAS
4th
3rd
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
SCIENCE DISCOVERY CENTER a.
2nd
1st
Lower
Lobby / Concessions Great Hall Small Theater Alumni Room Storage Future Development
Exhibits
FLOORPLANS
VISUAL ARTS CENTER A. B. C. D.
Upper Gallery Setup Offices Library
PERFORMANCE CENTER & COMMON AREAS
4th
3rd
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
SCIENCE DISCOVERY CENTER a.
2nd
1st
Lower
Lobby Great Hall Management Offices Stage Loft Upper Small Theater Mechanical
Exhibits
ELEVATIONS
ELEVATIONS
SECTIONS
Visual Arts Center
Performance Center & Common Areas
Science Discovery Center
A. Gallery B. Collection Storage C. Receiving
1. Great Hall 2. Mechanical 3. Toilets
a. Exhibits b. Exhibit Preparation
1. Lobby 2. Office 3. Follow Spot
4. Great Hall 5. Small Theater 6. Mechanical
7. Future Development 8. Dressing 9. Small Theater Lobby