Williams Performing Arts Center
Abilene, Tex.
Keating/Khang & The Tittle Luther Partnership

Light fills this "Texas-sized" performing arts center

© Tom Dekle

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

Abilene Christian University wanted a performing arts center that would include spaces for a thrust stage theater, a recital hall, a black box theater as a well as classrooms, and practice rooms. The architects sought to provide a unified structural system that incorporates the different functions into a unified whole. All functional spaces share a large, common lobby that provides space for receptions, dinning and other pre-event gatherings. The lobby also acts as a lantern or beacon to attract community members from Abilene; this effect is intensified by a Texas-sized front porch that extends out to the motor court and shelters arriving guests.

Curvilinear walls stretch from the main entry doors to the entrances of individual spaces including the recital hall and the theaters, thereby extending the lobby through the building and helping to orient visitors. A two-story spine provides interior circulation. Flooded with light, the corridor's upper level has the feel of a catwalk. Students can enter the building through two separate entrances, one that fronts a parking lot and another that opens on an interior courtyard that is oriented toward the main campus. This courtyard provides space for performances as well as informal, personal practice areas. It also permits daylight into the center of the building.

Within the recital hall, the primary architectural expression is wood veneer inspired by musical instruments. The wood is also suitable for the space's acoustic requirements. In the thrust stage theater, the architectural expression is inspired by the concept of moving through planes or curtains towards the stage, which the architects believe is integral to the nature of viewing a performance.

Formal name of Project:
Williams Performing Arts Center

Location:
Abilene, Tex.

Gross square footage:
92,000 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$14 Million

Owner:
Abilene Christian University

Architect:
Keating/Khang LLP
120 South Oak Knoll Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91106
626-796-9797
keatingkhang.com

Architect of Record:
The Tittle Luther Partnership, LLP
340 Beech Street
Abilene, TX
Phone: 325-673-8178
Fax: 325-673-8196
www.tlp-architecture.com