project: Catholic Foundation Performing Arts Center

owner: Bishop Lynch High School

location: Dallas, Texas

architect: Page Southerland Page

Overview

The addition of this $7 million, 24,000 sq. ft. performing arts center to the existing private Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, Texas serves as a showpiece for the school as well as the surrounding community. In addition to the McGonigle Theatre, the PAC includes a blackbox studio for smaller plays, a choral room, theater arts classrooms, dressing rooms, a chapel, and a student commons area that serves as a bridge between the original school and the new wing.

Design Charge

The owner desired a fully functioning theatre as the focal point in the new PAC in addition to a blackbox studio theatre, choral room, practice rooms, classrooms, and performer support spaces. Also included within the new facility is a chapel for the students. Encore Design Group provided room acoustics, space planning, performance lighting systems, sound systems, and rigging system design in these spaces.

Theatre

The McGonigle Theatre, the focal point of the Performing Arts Center, is the first performance hall in the school's 39-year history. This 400-seat theatre was designed to accommodate dramatic, musical, orchestral, dance and other major types of performances. A combination counterweight and motorized rigging system, computerized lighting system, and state-of-the-art sound system is provided for use by all users and to meet the needs of these differing types of performances. The theatre has been praised by its users for exemplary acoustics. Wall shapes and finishes aid room acoustics as well as the custom designed acoustic reflector panels over the audience.

Chapel

Part of the new Performing Arts Center addition included a solemn chapel for the students, faculty, staff, and community. This chapel features natural finishes in an intimate atmosphere with little distraction. Encore provided room acoustics design as well as small sound system design in this newly opened space. Great attention was given to overall room intelligibility to allow for spoken word without the need for amplification.

Public Areas

In public areas such as the Main Lobby and the restrooms serving the theatre, a distributed in-ceiling sound system was provided to allow sound from the theatre's performance can be heard. The system also provides a feed from the school-wide public address system and intercom. The system can also be used as a stand-alone system for Lobby events.