Woodside Priory School, Performing Arts Center

Woodside Priory School is an independent, coed college preparatory school for grades 6-12 in the Benedictine tradition. The performing arts center complex consists of three buildings and is sited on a central plaza that encourages outside gathering and defines the school’s primary entrance.

Auerbach Pollock Friedlander provided full-scope theatre and audio-video consulting for the Rothrock Performance Hall, shop, chorus studio, band room and black box lab.

The 400-seat Rothrock Performance Hall is a proscenium theatre used for educational and community performing arts events containing retractable seating to accommodate flat floor events. The spaces are organized with large loading doors on adjacent walls of the shop, one between the shop and the black box theatre and one between the shop and performance hall stage. This arrangement offers great flexibility in scenery handling for both spaces. Set pieces constructed in the shop can be moved directly to their performance destination. Also, scenery may be stored offstage in the shop from either space during performances to facilitate scenic changes.

Designed with green building principles in mind, this performing arts center is LEED registered.

Architect: MK Think
Size: 18,000 SF entire complex
Cost: $7,000,000
Completion: 2006