Oregon State University Arts and Education Complex

The 41,000-square-foot facility will provide a community-focused, campus centerpiece, and firmly place the “A” in the STEAM educational model, which the university is dedicated to supporting. The arts center will include a new, flexible 200-seat studio theatre, and an “acoustically superior” 450-seat recital hall that doubles as a classroom—the result of a renovation of the former 1,200- seat Austin Auditorium. Theatre Projects’ design and planning input embraced the pursuit of interdisciplinary collaboration by weaving rehearsal, performance, public, classroom, and admin spaces throughout the building, eschewing a more traditional front-and back-of-house dynamic. Support spaces will further encourage conversation, collaboration, and diverse art forms, and include rehearsal spaces, shop and maker space, and an art gallery.