The Music Conservatory of Shanghai expanded its facilities to include a new world-class, 1,200-seat opera house and four rehearsal rooms to better support their opera, choral music, orchestra, and Chinese orchestra programs. The building’s constrictive 31,926 square meter footprint required creative, collaborative solutions to fit the school’s needs, so we worked closely with the client to understand their goals, then proposed non-traditional solutions for stage and support spaces, stacking the facilities vertically across eight floors.