By: Chris Brooks, LEED AP

With a simple box of the right size, you can create a superb performance space.

The challenge

Nearly all performance spaces wind up being used for a wide variety of performance types, even if not originally intended or designed to be used this manner. Educational performance spaces, particularly for K-12, almost always serve multiple performance types. These spaces often serve as the performing arts center for their community as well.

Performance spaces connect performers and their audience via two major senses:

• Sight (theatrical)
• Sound (acoustics)

They also have other requirements including: back-stage support, comfort, pleasing appearance, and the myriad practical requirements that all buildings must meet.

This piece focuses on the theatrical and acoustic aspects.

3-D Section towards stage right

Two approaches

Generally speaking, there are two basic approaches to creating a multi-use performance space:

1.  Start with a theatre (including stage house, rigging, proscenium and separate audience), and add elements to support music (such as a stage shell, "clouds," even electronic enhancement): the classic "Multi-purpose Auditorium."
2. Start with a music space (concert hall), and add elements that will support theatre. Let's call this "The Performance Box."

Each of these approaches has its costs and benefits; the choice should be driven by program. Unfortunately, the second option, the Performance Box, is much less widely know than the first. Yet, it is often (though not always) a better choice.

The Multi-purpose Auditorium

The Multi-purpose Auditorium is the common default. We have worked on many successful projects following this model.

However, the Multi-purpose Auditorium is difficult and expensive to do well.

All too often, music is short changed due to cost limitations. Despite the fact that there are some excellent examples, the Multi-purpose Auditorium does not have a very good reputation.

The Performance Box

The second option, the Performance Box, is far less common. It has strong advantages:

•  For comparable quality this approach can be much less expensive. This is because requirements for music (those that differ from theatre) tend to be large and massive (e.g. stage shells), and thus expensive to implement as movable elements. Requirements for theatre, on the other hand, are primarily visual, and thus relatively inexpensive to implement in a movable form (e.g. as curtains).
• This approach creates a stronger connection between audience and performers by locating both in the same room. This is crucial for music, but also has benefits for theatre. Furthermore, the trend in theatre is away from the traditional proscenium, and towards breaking the "fourth wall" in order to create a more intimate connection with the audience.

By: Chris Dawson, AIA

The 2014 AIA Central PA Spring Lecture was held on May 29th at the Agricultural & Industrial Museum in York with Steve Dumez, FAIA presenting "Building Community" profiling the work of Eskew+Dumez+Ripple where Steve is a Partner and Director of Design. Eskew+Dumez+Ripple will receive the 2014 AIA Architecture Firm Award on June 27th at the National 

Convention and Design Expo in Chicago.

Marlon Blackwell, 2006 

AIA Central PA Lecturer, has noted that "Eskew+Dumez+Ripple has developed the unique ability to connect their work to places other then their own by referencing local and international precedents creating work that is felt as much as it is understood." I found the work to be consistently innovative and beautiful while being firmly grounded in its context and expressive of our time. Steve presented the work and shared the values of the firm through the lenses of beauty, sustainability, designing excellence, and engaging their clients & the entire community.

Steve Dumez was thoughtful, engaging, and talented - all the qualities that make the Lecture Series so inspiring to me. It has been my sincere pleasure to organize the last 16 lectures and I look forward to attending the upcoming presentations organized by the new members of the Lecture Series Committee. Frank Harmon, FAIA is slated to make the Fall Lecture presentation on November 13th at Armstrong World Industries in Lancaster.

By: Kelsey Leed, Assoc. AIA

The ACE Mentor program has been active in the Central PA region for 10 years now.  After being involved with ACE for the past 7 years, as a mentor myself and now a board member of the Central PA Chapter, I and many 

others closely involved with the program have often  discussed that the ultimate success of this program would be to see it come full circle by having a high school student pursue their professional degree in the industry and come back to become a part of our local AEC community.  The following commentary is from a local young professional who did just that.  She is one of the ultimate success stories of the ACE Program.

In the course of our day we encounter a variety of people working in a variety of professions. Adolescents develop a basic understanding of what it means to be a doctor, or a teacher, simply through interaction. Not often do they have the opportunity to interact with society's engineers, architects, or skilled tradesmen; the ones that have dreamed, designed, and built the infrastructure all around them. I guess that's where I can say I've been blessed to have come full circle.

The ACE mentor program was that opportunity for me 6 years ago, as it is for those I now mentor. As a student in ACE I was exposed to career paths out of the norm. It allowed me to share this common, sometimes 'odd', interest with peers in the surrounding area, forced me to make connections with professionals, and sparked my interest in Civil Engineering. I was scaling drawings, reading topo maps, and calculating cuts and fills. It seems to be, as I felt then, the first real connection to understanding how our world is built.

Through ACE I gained a step up on peers heading into college. Not many freshmen can say they took a project from conception through electrical, civil, and mechanical design while working side by side with licensed engineers and architects. For me ACE was the first, very early, step in becoming a successful engineer. 

Yes many of the other mentors may have 5, 10, 25 years on me, but as a student I would have loved to see younger engineers involved. It makes it all seem more attainable; that in 6 years yes that really can be you. ACE for me now is a place where I continue to learn and hopefully pass on some of my knowledge, passion, and excitement for engineering to our youth.

Jennifer Harnden, EIT

Sr. Engineer - Project Management

The Hershey Company

Jennifer Harnden is a 2008 Hershey High School Graduate and participant/scholarship recipient in the ACE Dauphin program.  She then went on to achieve a BS and ME in Civil Engineering with a focus in structural from Widener University.  Jennifer is now an EIT, Senior Engineer with the Hershey Company as well as an ACE Dauphin Mentor. 

Our four local chapters are always seeking mentors (Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster and York).  Please visit www.acementor.org to learn more about the program and find the contacts for each of the area affiliates.

By: James Mehaffey, AIA

Sometimes, very complicated and technical rules may boggle the mind, but sometimes they can be demonstrated very easily in the average person's kitchen.  One such "experiment" demonstrates galvanic corrosion, which is the reaction certain metals exhibit when they make contact with each other in the presence of an electrolyte.  More simply stated; when metals get rained on and overlap each other.  This rather tedious sounding process can be explained in a very tasty way, in fact.  

The demonstration is commonly known as the lasagna battery.  Try cooking a delicious (and salty) lasagna in a steel baking pan, then cover it with 

aluminum foil.  In a few hours, you will see small holes developing in the foil where it is in contact with the food.  You will also see spots on the food where the aluminum has apparently dissolved. The two metals are placed into an electrolyte (lasagna).  Since the aluminum is lower on the electrochemical series, or less noble than the steel, the foil actually ionizes due to a rapid chemical reaction charged by a small electrical current.  This is why you have to be careful when you have one metal on a roof or wall in contact with a different metal composition in the presences of an electrolyte (rain water is enough).  Value Engineering metals can be hazardous to a roof's health!

The AIA Pennsylvania Board's Government Affairs and Licensure Committees guide the advance of our Legislative Priorities, which have lately been focused on opposing Interior Design licensure and advocating for Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE), while monitoring and providing input to the Commonwealth concerning several other issues of interest to architects.

A contingent of interior designers, who in all do not represent a majority of the interior design community, have been pushing for interior design licensure and seals legislation for the last several years.  AIA Pennsylvania continues to oppose this effort, which we (and many interior designers too) believe is un-necessary, likely to lead to confusion and improper application if implemented.  Most importantly, we are concerned that this would be an intrusion into architects' practice areas.  The interior designers that are pushing these initiatives openly want the capability to seal and sign documents to facilitate issuance of building permits.  This is a non-existent need because building permits are not required for interior design work, which does not and should not extend into the realm of improvements that impact life safety or health, safety & welfare, ie: moving walls and doors or altering structure.  Interior designers' training and experience is narrowly focused on interior materials, finishes and furnishings; whereas architects' training and experience is broadly based to consider and integrate all building components and systems, life safety issues, and coordinating the contributions of multiple consultants.  In order to proactively prepare AIA Pennsylvania to ward off this threat, the Board formed an ID Licensure Task Force to assess what other states are doing with this issue, and document the negative outcomes.

The MCE issue is related, in that it appears this same contingent of interior designers has effectively locked up our bill, which has already passed the House, in Senate Committee.  We are continuing to encourage our Senator allies to move the bill out of Committee and out to the floor for a vote.

AIA Pennsylvania is continuing to monitor and passively oppose Public Private Partnerships (or P3) initiatives because we believe such project structures tend to marginalize architects.  We continue to support and encourage restoration of funding to the PlanCon school design and funding process of the PA Department of Education.

The Licensure Committee of AIA Pennsyvania is presently monitoring and providing commentary to an initiative by the Commonwealth to concurrently develop regulations that define electronic seals and their use by Architects, Engineers and Landscape Architects, under each of their respective licensure laws. Our interest in this is to prevent a solution in search of a problem that creates more complexity rather than clarity.  Additionally, we are tracking an initiative by NCARB to simplify reciprocal registrations between the Provinces of Canada and US States, so that registered Canadian architects can reciprocally get registered in PA, but more importantly, so PA architects can more easily get registered to do work in Canada.

"We seek an Architect to provide investigation, analysis, reports and testimony where technical and scientific answers are needed to help resolve civil litigation and insurance claims.

Expertise should include design/build experience in residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional structures; code enforcement; site experience; project supervision; diagnosing building defects; rehabilitations and/or new construction; and BIM."

 Congratulations to Kelsey Leed and Andrew Blaydon 

for passing all your exams! 

Please let us know if an Associate in your firm is advancing their career so we recognize them!

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