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Tuesday, 25 December 2007 | Levent OZLER
Leo a Daly Designed Santa Monica College Theatre Receives SCDF Community Enrichment Award, Recognized as "Best of California"
The dramatic new Theatre Arts Building at Santa Monica College's main campus in Santa Monica, Calif., which was designed by the Los Angeles office of international architecture, planning, engineering, interior design and program management firm LEO A DALY, was recognized last week by the Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) with a 2007 Community Enrichment Award. The project also recently received a "Best of California 2007" award from California Construction magazine in the Southern California Performing Arts category.
According to Vice President and Managing Principal of LEO A DALY's Los Angeles office, Brian A. Kite, AIA, "Having this project twice-recognized is a great honor. We are proud that our design was able to make such a strong and positive impact on the community."
The SCDF Community Enrichment Award was presented as part of the group's annual Design Awards program held in Los Angeles on December 11, 2007. Accepting on behalf of LEO A DALY, Brian A. Kite was presented the award during the official ceremony, where he spoke before the audience about the firm's design of the theatre and his gratitude to Santa Monica College for their vision of combining performance, classroom and stagecraft spaces into a single structure. He later introduced Santa Monica College's Director of Facilities Planning, Greg Brown.
Hraztan Zeitlian, AIA, LEED AP, Director of Design for LEO A DALY's Los Angeles office, notes that, "The SCDF jury was particularly impressed by the building's layout, which created several intimate or public spaces around the building that encourage outdoor teaching as well as impromptu gatherings and socializing."
The "Best of California 2007" award was officially presented during a ceremony in Long Beach on December 4, 2007 as part of California Construction's annual competition that recognizes construction and design excellence in the state.
For Zeitlian, "LEO A DALY's design of Santa Monica College's new Theatre Arts Building sought to provide a strong identity for the campus' dramatic arts program while meeting the complex requirements of a working teaching theatre. These awards are a strong measure of our firm's success in achieving these goals through design excellence."
The bold, contemporary design of the 20,000 square-foot, $17 million building, which opened its door in September 2006, is the new home of the college's award-winning performing arts program. Featuring a striking red overhang that soars above the second level's outdoor balcony, the building includes a fully functioning 264-seat performance theatre with complete backstage capabilities, box office, classrooms, faculty offices and an additional "black box" performance space. With an "actor's garden," sweeping circular outdoor bench, and adjacent tree-lined courtyard, the building is a nexus of student activity.
Replacing an overcrowded and aging 50-year-old facility, the iconic teaching facility will greatly expand the teaching capabilities of the theatre arts department and reinforce the program's presence on campus. The Theatre Arts Building is the most recent addition to Santa Monica College's main campus, which has undergone an architectural renaissance in recent years.
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