DePaul University New Theatre School Building
Chicago, Ill.

Ground was broken June 1 for the new theater building, for which we are providing structural design. The 165,000-sf, five-story structure, composed of steel and reinforced concrete with a glass-and-limestone facade, will form a western gateway to DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus. It will house a 250-seat theater, a 100-seat “black box” theater, rehearsal space, scenery and costume shop areas, classrooms, administrative offices and outdoor terraces at the upper levels. The full theater experience—from production to performance—will be visible through a translucent glass wall, which will cantilever from the northeast corner of the building, and patrons on their way to performances will pass classrooms and rehearsal rooms enclosed by floor-to-ceiling glass. Founded as the Goodman School of Drama in 1925, The Theatre School is the Midwest’s oldest theater conservatory. Completion is expected in July, 2013. Pelli Clarke Pelli is the design architect and OWP/P | Cannon Design is the architect of record.