The reimagined Paramount Theatre required a completely new stage house, sized for live performance. The increased depth of the stage and inclusion of an orchestra pit required careful redesign of the seating to assure excellent sightlines. Working with an existing truss that supported the side walls of the theatre the orchestra level and mezzanine seating was linked to the historic mezzanine lobby. The new stage connects directly with the loading dock and scene shop, designed to support all of Emerson’s theatres.

New construction included the 125-seat Jackie Liebergott studio theatre, the 180-seat Bright Family Screening Room, a sound stage, rehearsal and media studios, practice rooms, classrooms and faculty offices. The top four floors of the project provide housing for 260 students. This infill construction is on the footprint the “Arcade” building, which originally house the Bijou Theatre and B.F. Keith’s Theatre. The Arcade Building’s historic façade with its distinctive its arched windows of the Bijou now forms one wall of the flexible theatre.