University of Texas, Permian Basin, Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center

Auerbach Pollock Friedlander provided full-scope theatre and audio-video consulting services for the new $80 million Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center – a jointly funded effort by citizens of Midland and Odessa.

The heart of the complex, the Wagner Noël Theatre, is a 1,800-seat hall for touring Broadway productions, pop concerts and other attractions that fills a gap in an arts-hungry region that had been previously underserved. With ample seating and natural acoustical support for a broad range of live programming, including the region’s well-established international lecture series, the main theatre is an impressive 4-story interior environment with layered wall surfaces recalling the geology of the area’s famous “oil patch”. Architectural shaping surfaces above, interspersed with LED star field panels, recall the broad expanse of the Texas night sky.

The Rea-Greathouse Recital Hall provides a home for the growing university’s music department as well as community and regional events. With a flat floor, the venue frequently hosts smaller performances, dinners and receptions. The Hall, equipped with lighting and audio-video systems, as well as a comprehensive variable acoustic system, carefully integrated behind the openwork architectural grilles and ceiling, is able to support all functions. The Rea-Greathouse Recital Hall, with its formal theatre-style seating, provides an elegant yet flexible space for the University and its users.

Architect: BOORA Architects
Acoustics: Jaffe Holden
Size: 108,000 SF
Cost: $89,000,000
Completion: 2012