Cleveland School of the Arts, New Theatre

Westlake Reed Leskosky designed an innovative new theatre as a future addition to a new public magnet school for 775 students in grades 6 through 12. Designed to be a visible symbol of the arts in the community, the proposed theatre features a unique envelope and a performance space with unparalleled flexibility. The building has a double glazed skin with the outer layer of a different geometry than...

Gerry Foundation, Inc., Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

The new Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center designed by Westlake Reed Leskosky preserves the original 1969 Woodstock concert site as it creates a vibrant international cultural destination. Along with multiple performing arts venues, the project includes a Museum of Woodstock with immersive exhibits to tell the story of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, its historical context and its influence on American culture. The interpretation extends throughout the 37 acres of the...

Musical Arts Association, Blossom Music Center

The experience of being at this beautiful 250-acre site, bordering and strongly related to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, evokes an appreciative response from visitors. In a recent redevelopment plan beginning at the front entrance, the landscape architect worked together with the land conservation manager at a neighboring arboretum to replace turf grass with a mix of tall native meadow grasses and wildflowers that make the approach to Blossom a...

Toronto Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra, Project Niagara

A new outdoor music festival will set the stage for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra in the Niagara peninsula.  Westlake Reed Leskosky is collaborating with KPMB Architects, Toronto to program and plan Project Niagara, located on a wooded, 250-acre site on the southern shore of Lake Ontario.  The pavilion will include ±2500 seats under cover, and up to 10,000 on the lawn.  The program will be...

Wausau Performing Arts Foundation, Artsblock

ArtsBlock, in Wausau, Wisconsin is a $13.1 million cultural and civic asset that expands the 1927 Grand Theater as the centerpiece of an entire city block, and creates a community arts center with the restoration of the 1,200-seat historic theatre at the heart. The design concept for ArtsBlock links three historic structures on its downtown block, and creates flexible new facilities as it restores, enhances, and connects the existing buildings....

Broward Center for the Performing Arts

Westlake Reed Leskosky has completed a Master Plan and Conceptual Design Study for the complex that envisions the Broward Center as a new western entrance to Downtown Fort Lauderdale, weaving cultural arts and community into one comprehensive district.  At the core of the Broward Center's $75 million campaign for Capital Improvements and Endowment, Westlake Reed Leskosky has re-invented the underutilized garden courtyard as a new central community 'living room'.  This...

Friends of the Coronado, Coronado Theatre

Recognized by a National Trust Honor Award, the revitalization and expansion of the Coronado Theatre serves as an exemplary testament to the importance of the performing arts and preservation of America's landmark theatres. Drawing on extensive research, the faithful $18.5 million restoration of the former 1927 movie palace is the result of a unique public/private partnership and a catalyst for urban redevelopment. The annexation and adaptation of the adjacent two-story...

Pennsylvania State University, Eisenhower Auditorium

Westlake Reed Leskosky was retained by Pennsylvania State University to conduct a study for additions and renovations to the Eisenhower Auditorium.  Built in 1974, the 2,589 seat facility is home to the Center for the Performing Arts. The focus of the study involved five key priorities that will allow the Eisenhower to accommodate contemporary programming and usage.  These include:  plaza improvements and integration of building with Shortlidge Mall; expansion of...

PlayhouseSquare Foundation, Hanna Theatre at PlayhouseSquare

The theatre, which has been adapted for use by the Great Lakes Theater Festival – an anchor production company of PlayhouseSquare and one of the country's top regional theatres - conveys an open plan that connects the patron to the stage from the street to their seat, always visually connected to the performance. Typical and atypical support spaces (such as a café integrated into the lobby through movable glass partitions)...

City of San Diego, Centre City Development, Historic Balboa Theatre Restoration

Revitalizing the long-dark San Diego Balboa Theatre returns the "glittering jewel box" to original 1924 splendor, transformed as a modern performance venue enlivening downtown. Leveraging tax increment financing, the $26.5 million phased project solved space constraints, technical complexities and seismic retrofit to restore rotunda, lobbies, audience chamber, and bring alive rich Moorish decoration, astounding color palette, and cascading waterfalls.  Integrated services included state-of-the-art engineering and performance systems, and recreated house...

Orpheum Theatre Foundation, Orpheum Theatre

The original Orpheum Theatre premiered on January 5, 1929, as a showcase for vaudeville, touring shows, and movies. Built by theater owners Harry Nace and J.E. Richards, the Orpheum was reputed to be the most luxurious movie palace west of the Mississippi. In 1998, the firm completed a 9-year, 4-phase project to implement restoration of the theatre to its original splendor, while upgrading the audience chamber and stage to meet...

PlayhouseSquare Foundation, PlayhouseSquare

Westlake Reed Leskosky orchestrated a master plan for a theater district downtown that is now a national model, major visitor attraction and economic development catalyst for Cleveland. PlayhouseSquare attracts over 2,000,000 patrons annually to a wide variety of arts and entertainment events, injects over $40 million each year in new income and has initiated a renaissance of development in the district with an annual impact exceeding $300 million. Key to...

Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center, Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center

The revitalization of the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center rejuvenates two landmark theatres: The magnificent 1,267-seat Strand Theatre, restored in its entirety with new 250-seat mezzanine balcony seating, and the 600-seat Capitol Theatre, enhanced with stage expansion and improvements. The $17.3 million project, encompassing restoration, adaptive reuse, and new construction, creates a unified performing arts block by integrating four varied landmark buildings and three complementary building additions was a model for...

Tampa Theatre

Westlake Reed Leskosky has been retained to examine the historic structure and prepare recommendations for restoration. Additionally, theater expansion is being considered on one or more adjacent land parcels. Theater expansion will include expanded lobby and patron amenities, three new screening rooms, and a large multi-purpose Event Room with related support spaces.

Tennessee Theatre Restoration, LLC, The Tennessee Theatre

The restoration of the landmark Historic Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee serves as an exemplary project in terms of its financing strategies. The rehabilitation of this 1928 movie palace, a superb example of Spanish-Moorish architecture, could have stopped at a $14 million project, merely restoring it as a movie house. Instead, in January 2005, the theatre debuted a new stage house for symphony, opera, and a variety of performing...

City of Yuma, Yuma Art Center

The Yuma Art Center is a unified performing and visual arts center featuring the Historic Yuma Theatre and highlighting a new two story museum, with a loggia compatible with the historic character of Main Street. Designed with integrated theatre technical services, this first phase includes upgrades to the historic theatre, renovations to an adjoining building for art studios and classrooms, an outdoor courtyard, and contemporary new construction housing art galleries...

Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music Renovation/Expansion

Westlake Reed Leskosky collaborated with Charles Young to renovate and expand the original Cleveland Institute of Music building, designed by our firm (then known as Schafer Flynn) in the1950's. The Cleveland Institute of Music is recognized as one of the premier music conservatories in the United States. Located on University Circle in the heart of the City's cultural district, the Cleveland Institute of Music facility features a renovated 750 seat...

Cleveland Museum of Art, Gartner Auditorium Renovation

Westlake Reed Leskosky renovated the Gartner Auditorium in the Cleveland Museum of Art. The space, originally designed by Marcel Breuer in 1971, needed to be re-imaged, re-tuned, and technologically upgraded to accommodate the changing outreach and education needs of the Museum. The space now hosts films, lectures, dance and chamber music performances.

The project included the redesign of the walls, ceilings, and the stage for architectural and acoustic...

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Westlake Reed Leskosky developed a comprehensive 5-year Capital Plan for the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the nation's most active performing arts center. The project included a survey and evaluation of the 1.5 million square foot building and its systems as well as recommendations for future capital projects in consideration of current codes and standards, lifetime of existing equipment, and operational issues or deficiencies. The Capital Plan will serve as...

Cleveland State University, Music and Communications Building

Named Building of the Year by the Ohio House of Representatives when opened, this advanced facility incorporates a unique marriage of music and computers, with audio and video recording throughout the building, linked to central control centers. With the exception of the two pyramidal performance halls one 900 seats and the other 275 seats - the program was organized into a four-story assemblage of recital halls, classrooms, teaching laboratories, rehearsal...

The City of Phoenix, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra

The $18.5 million Symphony Hall renovation, for which Westlake Reed Leskosky is the architect and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineer, is executed in conjunction with the expansion and renovation of the Phoenix Convention Center, designed by HOK Venue in association with Leo A Daly. The project involves a new grand entrance and a greatly expanded lobby, as well as a new audience seating configuration to enhance ease of access, extensive...

City of Tempe, Tempe Performing and Visual Arts Center

When the City of Tempe, Arizona considered building a new performing and visual arts center, they first commissioned Westlake Reed Leskosky to perform a feasibility study and master plan. Based on the firm's work, the City overwhelmingly passed a bond issue including $35 million for the construction of the facility and staged a design competition. Westlake Reed Leskosky's competition finalist design was created in association with architects Hodgetts + Fung...

Oberlin College, The Bertram and Judith Kohl Building

The Kohl Building serves as the innovative new home of the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music's acclaimed Department of Jazz Studies and its academic programs in music history and music theory. The new 37,000 SF facility interfaces with the adjacent Conservatory complex and creates an elevated pedestrian link that ties in three buildings. A massive cantilevered roof, three stories high, hovers in the air between the new and...

Wilmington Performing Arts Center, Wilmington Performing Arts Center

Representing a private/public sector partnership, the new 70,000 sf Concert Theatre on the University of North Carolina Wilmington campus will serve the University as well as the surrounding community. A primary user of the space will be the Wilmington Symphony. Complementing the traditional architectural style of the campus and influenced by regional historic landmarks, the design features a brick volume fronted by an exterior portico and glass enclosed veranda that...

St. Ignatius High School, Breen Center for the Performing Arts

The $11.5 million performing arts center at St. Ignatius High School is sited at a terminus view corridor across the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, strengthening the urban conditions of the site and reinforcing connections to the 16-acre school campus and outdoor Mall to the north. The 36,000 sq. ft. building includes: a 550-seat proscenium theatre, a 150-seat band room, a rehearsal room, chorus room, practice rooms, and a range of stage and...

The Clemens Center, Clemens Center

The Clemens Center honors Samuel Clemens in his adopted home of Elmira, New York. Westlake Reed Leskosky developed a master plan to be implemented in two phases. Phase 1 architectural and engineering work, completed in 1999, has restored the Clemens Center's place as one of the most significant venues for the performing arts in the region, and paves the way for future improvements. Premium fixtures and finishes provide a rich...

City and County of Denver, Colorado, Denver Center for the Performing Arts

The 2,815-seat, award-winning Buell Theatre was created within a former sports facility and it was the first implemented phase of the $31 million Denver Performing Arts Complex, whose master plan was created by Westlake Reed Leskosky. The complex unification of disparate structures and new construction resulted in what is now the country's second largest performing arts center. The design of the Buell Theatre reflects the character of the region, incorporating...

Cleveland State University, Fine and Visual Arts Facility

Westlake Reed Leskosky was retained to design a new 178,000 SF Fine and Visual Arts facility for Cleveland State University. After studying what the scale of programmatic elements meant for the site, our firm determined that the best solution would be to expand the existing communications building out to Euclid Avenue, combining performance spaces and allowing a sharing of back-of-house and support spaces. The visual arts program would be located...

Germantown Performing Arts Centre/ The North Group, Inc., Germantown Performing Arts Centre

Located in a culturally-rich suburb of Memphis, the Germantown Performing Arts Centre (GPAC) is a keystone of the Germantown Smart Growth Redevelopment Plan. The 156,000 square-foot expansion integrates a 1400-seat theater, a 250-seat black box, a school of the arts, rehearsal rooms, special event spaces, and offices with an existing 800-seat theater. The building's compact design preserves many existing mature trees surrounding the north and west exposures. To the east,...

Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts

Through the collaboration of the local public School District, New Albany Village and Township, and the New Albany Company, the $15 million performing arts center is the cultural center for this fast-growing community just outside Columbus, Ohio. The Center includes a proscenium theatre, which is a venue for the Columbus Symphony, a small black box/rehearsal room, a dance studio, a range of stage and performer support spaces, classrooms, and an...

The City of Lauderhill, Lauderhill Performing Arts Center and Library

The City of Lauderhill, Florida has retained Westlake Reed Leskosky, in association with Barranco Gonzalez, to design a new cultural arts center for its residents. The Center will include a 1,200 seat theatre with a full stagehouse and performer support, a black box theatre, rehearsal spaces, a multi-functional lobby for events and performance, and front-of-house amenities. The Center will also have a full community library. Energy efficiency measures include heat...

City of Lone Tree, Lone Tree Cultural Arts Center

The new $19 million Lone Tree Arts Center is a state-of-the-art, sustainable and energy efficient facility for the arts, and a new focal point for the City of Lone Tree, Colorado. Expressing a forward-looking identity for this growing community, the 43,000 SF facility is as a vibrant and multipurpose community center, with flexible space for a range of cultural arts performances, meetings and events.

Set in...

Maricopa Community College District, Paradise Valley Community College Performing Arts Center

Designed as a campus center for music, theater and art, the 24,870 square foot teaching and performance facility incorporates a 281 seat theater, rehearsal spaces, classrooms, practice rooms and gallery. The exterior, in form, material and color, is inspired by the natural characteristics of the starkly beautiful setting; chiseled forms and tactile surfaces evoke and interact with the distant mountains, undergoing continual transformation under the dramatic natural light. The intent...

City of Peoria, Peoria Center for the Performing Arts

The Peoria Center for the Performing Arts was the first step in a comprehensive initiative to develop the city center of Peoria, Arizona. The primary user is the preeminent community theatre group Theater Works. A craggy copper clad roof hovering above a base of masonry evokes the color and forms of the desert basin and distant mountains. The complex features 250 seat and 80 seat theaters with support spaces...

Sonoran Desert Center for the Arts

Westlake Reed Leskosky's conceptual design for the Sonoran Desert Center for the Arts in Scottsdale, Arizona takes advantage of an extraordinary natural environment, revealing the beauty of the surrounding desert while being minimally invasive to the landscape. Encompassing 110,000 square feet, the planned campus includes a 2,000 seat theatre, a small studio theatre, a museum branch and amenities such as an outdoor patio grill and a full service restaurant. Illuminated...

PlayhouseSquare Foundation, Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare

Pioneering work at PlayhouseSquare continues with the design of interactive facilities integrating multimedia, performing arts, and broadcast for WVIZ/PBS and 90.3 WCPN ideastream and the PlayhouseSquare Foundation. Inserting a contemporary design concept into historic One PlayhouseSquare on Euclid Avenue, the new synergetic center breaks down the barriers between television and radio to foster a convergence of the two formerly independent media streams, with multilevel activities and movement of space adding...

Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center

Westlake Reed Leskosky is currently completing a master plan for enhancements to the existing Performing Arts Center, one of the four largest in the country - that will include a hotel, artists' housing, patron amenities such as a restaurant and VIP areas, river mooring, and conference/banquet areas. We are working to establish an appropriate site program for a mix of uses that includes drop-off, parking and bus staging as well...

PlayhouseSquare Foundation, The Power of Three Project, Allen Theatre

Working in partnership with PlayhouseSquare, the Cleveland Play House and Cleveland State University, Westlake Reed Leskosky designed a renovation and expansion for the historic Allen Theatre. The transformation, at a cost of $26 million, features three new theatres created within the 81,500 sf Allen Theatre and 44,000 sf continguous addition.

Housed in the existing Allen Theatre, the Main Stage Theatre and its lobby transitions the existing...