University of Maryland, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

College Park, Maryland, USA

At the time of its opening, this arts complex—totaling 318,000 square feet—was the largest single building ever built in Maryland. We designed the multi-venue center to be an arts village to house the School of Music, the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, and the university band program. Each unit has its own neighborhood with distinct performance,rehearsal, and support facilities that all have a central access point in the lobby, which  serves as the Main Street of the arts village. The departments are linked by a cross street, and at the intersection of the Main Street and the cross street sits a cafe for community gathering.