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theater with wooden finishes and yellow seating, stairs on the right to balcony at Point Park University Pittsburgh Playhouse
Point Park University Pittsburgh Playhouse

State-of-the-Art Meets Historic Urban Context

Project Location

Pittsburgh, PA

Program

Proscenium/thrust main stage; multi-form theater; black box venue

Services

Master planning, architecture, interiors, engineering, theater

Awards

AIA Ohio, Honorable Mention

Featuring three new theaters, the new Pittsburgh Playhouse provides state-of-the-art performance facilities for four performance companies on Point Park University’s downtown campus. Situated on 1.5 acres, the new work complements its historic urban setting architecturally and includes a 6,000-SF garden court and colonnade flanking the entry and lobby.

The tight urban site created a planning challenge for the main 561-seat theater, resulting in an asymmetrical, side-loading seating arrangement that responds to patron flow. Large windows, with black out capabilities for performances, flood the room with daylight when it is used as a teaching space, allowing passersby to glimpse activity within and enlivening the street façade. Operable glass garage-style doors in both the main stage and the 212-seat multi-form theater allow these venues to play to the urban neighborhood. Liberal use of glass in labs, shops, and studios, reveals activities to the building’s internal circulation system and to the street itself, communicating the vitality of art making to both students and the community. We provided master planning; architecture; interiors; electrical, mechanical, and structural engineering; acoustics; audiovisual; information transport; life safety & security; theater technical; and sustainability services.

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Stadium style yellow seating and abstract stripe stained wood details, balcony, and bannisters with recessed aisle lighting
Stadium style yellow seating and abstract stripe stained wood details, balcony, and bannisters with recessed aisle lighting

Large windows, with blackout capability for performances, flood the room with daylight when it is used as a teaching space.

Exterior view of tan building with black illuminated Pittsburgh Playhouse sign, below ground entry and second floor walkway

A new 6,000-SF, two-story outdoor plaza and colonnade flanks the entry and lobby.

Hallway leading to diagonal wooden staircase, angled cutouts beginning at second story of ceiling to rectangular skylights

The lobby boasts a four-story, wide-open space with natural light, a grand staircase, and tucked-in spaces for students to lounge and gather.

View from back of theater to stage with yellow brown velvet curtain. Panels of textural wood make up the ceiling

The 561-seat PNC Theatre features asymmetrical seating.

A black box theater with exposed fly system and light fixtures, the stage is set with tables and chairs

The Rauh Theatre, the most intimate space, has the capacity to fly scenery – an option most black box theaters do not have – via an arbor counterweight system.

Exterior view from walkway under and arch with obscured view into window. In the background outside are city views

The urban context is invited into the space through energy efficient floor-to-ceiling windows.

Carpeted hallway with floor to ceiling window, multiple couches with coffee tables, and screens along the wall

Natural daylight is a central theme in all public spaces.

People sit in wide section of wooden stairwell between geometric wall details

Stairs diagonally meander to the lobby below providing places to casually gather.

Dining space with granite counters left and tables right, separated from a hallway by double height windows and glass door

Floor-to-ceiling glass visually connects spaces.

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Back-of-House and Support Spaces

Workspace with welding equipment and tools, metal is being worked. A large window to the back looks out on street level
Workspace with welding equipment and tools, metal is being worked. A large window to the back looks out on street level

Large, open windows allow students, faculty, staff, and the public to have an intimate look at the inner workings of the Playhouse.

Green and yellow skylights above lighting system on rafters shed light on long room with sewing machines and arched mirrors

Stained glass skylights fill the costume shop with natural light.

A control panel sits on top of a long table with multiple screens in front of a window looking into a room with grey pipes

Every room is designed for student learning. This oversized control room provides hands on teaching opportunities for students and faculty.

Stage viewed from above showing the lighting, curtains, and ropes at the side of the stage to control these systems

Rigging and line sets at the PNC Theatre.

Looking from backstage outwards to dark colored stage rigging system hidden from yellow empty audience seats

The view from backstage of the PNC Theatre.

View from above the balcony looking down, there are catwalks above the seating and in the balcony is a grey room with window

Back of house amenities support a safe and welcoming environment for learning.

Audience sits in scattered folding chairs facing musicians while texture white light is projected onto the black floor

The transformational Highmark Theatre is adaptable to any seating configuration, while the glass back wall opens to an outside, mini-amphitheater.

Students sit in chairs in a long dark room, at the end of which is a green space that can be separated by a curtain

A 2,738-SF soundstage rising up three floors with a 15-foot-high catwalk and 24-foot-high ceilings provides professional-level learning opportunities to cinema arts students.

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Awards

2018 MBA Building Excellence Award for New Construction Over $25 Million

Master Builders Association of Western Pennsylvania

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2018 Placemaker Award for Excellence

ULI Placemaker Award

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