ARCH TOUR FEST: CRENSHAW HIGH SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Paul Vu, Here and Now Agency

Arch Tour Fest: Crenshaw High School, Performing Arts Center, Foodservice, Lunch Pavilion and Student Store – 11:30am

Additional information regarding the tour and check-in process will be emailed directly to registrants 24 hours before the event.

Tour Organizer: Dawn Brisco, AIA

THE DESIGN TEAM was challenged to renovate and seismically upgrade Crenshaw High School’s 1966 buildings within a modest budget. Early investigations led to a new complex, featuring a 824-seat theater, classrooms for various performing arts, and a food service building with indoor and outdoor dining facilities. Complex planning was needed for maintaining operations during construction, with a focus on infrastructure for interim and new facilities.

THE PROJECT FOCUSES on the campus and neighboring communities, staging the Performing Arts Center as a beacon that draws attendees, students, and community members into the campus. The design embraces contrasts, with a monumental concrete auditorium and a lightweight steel structure surrounding it. 

EXCHANGE AND CIRCULATE: the principles of a beloved quad, promoting interaction and gathering via an outdoor stage, shaded seating planters, and paths between campus buildings. The design is worthy of the talent in the community, creating a modern performing arts center that respects the community’s history and talent, including the award-winning Crenshaw Elite Choir, .

INCLUSIVITY AND COMMUNITY are emphasized through a transparent front facade with floor-to-ceiling glass and perforated screens, leading people into the campus heart. 

SUSTAINABILITY is achieved by meeting CHPS requirements, with classrooms and cafeteria featuring controlled daylight access, energy-efficient lighting, cool roofs, and reduced water usage. Stormwater is treated before exiting the site.

Building Credits:

Architect: NAC

Structural: KPFF Consulting Engineers

Landscape Architect: SALT

Theater Design: JK Design Group

Theater Construction Administration: idibri

MEP: dHA + CALPEC

Civil: Breen

Acoustics: Waveguide

Kitchen Consultant: Webb Foodservice Design

Tour Led by:

Michael Pinto, AIA, Principal NAC

Bio:

Michael is Design Director at NAC Architecture, pursuing empathic, humane design. His work seeks the intersection of social purpose, tactical research, and wit. Michael leads design with a strong emphasis on community engagement, believing that real and pragmatic concerns inform his best work. Michael is an energetic designer who has led projects to win over 30 design awards. He is a frequent lecturer and activist focused on improving the human experience for students and communities. Currently, Michael is studying evidence-based strategies for design for education and how design can prepare students for future jobs and workspaces. He is a former faculty at Art Center College of Design, Southern California Institute of Architecture, and Woodbury University School of Architecture and a graduate of Penn State University (BArch) and SCI-Arc (MArch).

Julia Eiko Hawkinson, AIA, ALEP, LEED AP BD+C, O+M, WELL AP, Senior Facilities Design Manager LAUSD

Bio:

Julia has been working for school districts for the past 20 years to positively impact the learning experiences of the students she serves. She manages the planning of major projects transforming existing school sites and leads the effort to develop, update and align LAUSD’s design standards and educational specifications with its instructional vision. In her professional and personal efforts, Julia advocates for inspiring learning environments that provide all children the opportunity to learn, to grow and to dream.

Scott Singletary, Senior Facilities Development Manager, LAUSD, Facilities Services Division

Bio:

Scott is currently a Senior Facilities Development Manager for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Facilities Services Division.  He started at the District in 2004 managing the acquisition assemblage of land for new school developments.  As the District shifted from building new schools to modernizing existing campuses, Scott moved into managing the preliminary planning, project management and design of school upgrade projects.  Currently, Scott is the regional manager of the Planning and Design Management branch overseeing a team that is responsible for over $2.5 billion of campus renovations, reconfigurations and modernization projects.  In addition, Scott has worked closely with District leadership to plan for and implement Capital Bond Measures, including the passing of Measure RR. Scott grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from UCSB with a degree in Political Science.  He has studied School Business Management at USC and been a member of the DBIA and is a CCM.

Bio:

Allen Compton, Founder/Principal, SALT

Allen is the founder and principal of SALT, a landscape architectural practice grounded in curiosity, critical thinking, and collaboration, whose commitment to designing insightful spaces emerges from site-specific explorations of identity, history, ecology, and culture. His eclectic path to landscape architecture included studies in physics and photography, as well as an early career in the tech industry. In 2009, he established SALT, steadily growing the business over a decade into a flourishing boutique firm with a belief that every design should be more about the user than the author. A strong egalitarian thread runs through the company culture as well as its projects, with a focus on social justice and environmentalism, and a mission to help ‘humanize the city’ and create more equitable green spaces. Along with large-scale, multi-acre projects ranging from riverfront open spaces to urban parks, Allen is drawn to unexpected, innovative, and multi-sensory projects. His commitment to creating a safe and sustainable Los Angeles include his time on the LADOT Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Council District 14 Median Advisory Committee, in addition to providing pro-bono consulting for Complete Street initiatives in Eagle Rock.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will explore the lessons learned from working with integral color for the monumental concrete massing of the Performing Arts Theater.

Participants will explore techniques for providing the safety and security necessary for a high school campus while maintaining a feeling of transparency and openness.

Participants will gain an understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in designing a new focal point at the heart of a campus and then building it on an occupied site.

Participants will acquire knowledge on the development of a performing arts theater and the associated arts classrooms and support spaces that enhance a high school performing arts program.

Parking info:

On Site