Lake Tahoe Community College, Arts Center

Only a few miles from the casino showrooms on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe’s south shore, Lake Tahoe Community College serves over 3,000 students in this resort setting. As part of the campus’ Phase II North Development, Auerbach Pollock Friedlander worked in close collaboration with Lionakis Beaumont architects to undertake programming and schematic design in a weeklong, intensive, on-site meeting with faculty and administration. That design work, initiated on-site, included the 200-seat black box Duke Theatre, music practice rooms and art studios, was fast-tracked in detailed design. Taking advantage of the District’s special cold weather programming requirements, Auerbach Pollock Friedlander created a full plenum for wiring and effects infrastructure below the black box, offering the opportunity to trap and use below-floor systems for production use.

The multi-form Duke Theatre, configurable as an end stage, arena, or 3/4 thrust, has moveable seats on an inventory of variable height platforms. The compact multi-arts building also houses a green room, dressing and production spaces, a box office and indoor lobby/connector from the student union building for easy snow-season access.

Architect: Lionakis Beaumont Design Group
Cost: $7,000,000
Completion: 1996