Colburn School Conservatory, Phase II Expansion

Founded over 60 years ago as a small preparatory school for the University of Southern California’s School of Music, the Colburn School has grown in stature and transformed into a degree-granting School of Performing Arts and Conservatory of Music. The school’s Phase II expansion took the southeast corner of the conservatory site, creating a high-rise with a limited footprint.

Auerbach Pollock Friedlander worked closely with architects Pfeiffer Partners on the design of the 200-seat Thayer Recital Hall and the 3,600-square-foot Olive Rehearsal Hall – stacked venues that posed numerous acoustical and variable acoustics systems challenges.

Today, Thayer Hall serves as a performance venue with state-of-the-art digital systems for webcasting, media and distance learning. Auerbach Pollock Friedlander collaborated with Charles M. Salter Associates on the development of the room.

In the Rehearsal Hall, the Conservatory’s rehearsal and recording venue, the team was joined by Boto Design Architects and Acoustics, specialists in recording studio planning.

Architect: Pfeiffer Partners
Acoustics: Charles M. Salter Associates
Size: 105,000 SF
Completion: 2007