DePaul University Holtschneider Performance Center

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Project description: The 185,000 SF Holtschneider Performance Center is the first phase of a new music complex for the DePaul University School of Music. The new structure anchors the updated complex, located between the School of Music administration building and Concert Hall, both of which are slated for renovation in future phases of the project.

The center houses several performance spaces, including concert, recital, and jazz halls. Student rehearsal rooms, practice rooms, and classrooms are strategically organized on the upper floors by the required functional and acoustic adjacencies relative to the double and triple-height performance spaces rising from the floors below. The three-story atrium, known as Schaefer College Hall Lobby, greets visitors entering the venue and serves as a circulation spine, which helps to organize the programmed spaces of the building. This “interior street” is the eastern gateway to DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus, open and accessible to all.

The building’s facade complements its surroundings and is composed mainly of brick with stone panels and horizontal coursing as detail elements. Glass and stone, used throughout the exterior, are arranged to moderate the building’s mass and present a lively atmosphere along Halsted Street. The building height is reduced at the edges through setbacks in the main volume to mediate between the required concert hall height and the surrounding residences.

Awards: 2019 Chicago Building Congress Merit Award Winner - New Construction over $55 Million

Photography: ©2018 balloggphoto.com

Size: 185,000 SF

Services: Architecture, Interior Design, Procurement

Sustainability: LEED Silver Certified