Photo: White plaster carve-outs play with the abstract shapes of musical instruments to create architectural elements such as the marquee and grand stair opening. Image Credit (all): SPF:a
By Fay Harvey
Construction is progressing on the new Bezdek Center for the Performing Arts at Crossroads School for Art and Sciences, a college preparatory school in Santa Monica, Calif. The new 58,000-square-foot facility will house state-of-the-art learning, performance and rehearsal spaces as well as the school’s Equity & Justice Institute. Completion is anticipated for early 2026.
The center was designed by Los Angeles-based architectural firm Studio Pali Fekete Architects (SPF:a) and led by Zoltan E. Pali, FAIA, design principal, and co-founder. The firm is well versed in performing arts projects, having also completed design work for the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and the renovation of the Pantages Theatre, both in Los Angeles. Douglass Design + Build of Thousand Oaks, Calif., was selected to construct the project and broke ground in 2024.
When project development began in 2019, SPF:a envisioned a series of technically refined spaces that open to a sleek courtyard. As the Covid-19 pandemic began, however, the design-build team—which also included audiovisual engineering and installation company AMT Systems Inc. of Santa Clarita, Calif., and LA Propoint of Sun Valley, Calif., for theatre infrastructure expertise—adapted to shifting conditions to ensure the project’s successful completion.
The site was a determining factor for many structural aspects of the project, including the placement of the main theater. To accommodate height restrictions, designers positioned the stage fly—a mechanical rope system necessary for stage changes and curtain control—at the lower end of the site to slope upward from north to south. Additionally, the stage floor will be aligned with the side alley, eliminating the need for ramps and lifts.
An additional design challenge was centralizing the fragmented performing arts facilities into a cohesive 55,000-square-foot building while preserving the spirit of the site’s industrial heritage. To achieve this goal, the firm designed a structurally straightforward building with a network of practice rooms, rehearsal spaces and seminar rooms. The space more than quadruples theatre seating, as the new Stern Family Theater will offer space for 650 attendees. A new flexible-use open-air lobby connects to the smaller 100-seat performance space, which will host rehearsals and more intimate events. Supporting these spaces are a multipurpose filmmaking classroom, practice spaces, music classrooms, ample storage areas, and an electronic music and recording studio.
“Programmatically, our design attempts to fit into and preserve the spirit of the industrial use prevalent in the site’s history,” Pali said. “We centralized the activity of the current fragmented performing arts facilities into one highly rational and structurally simple expression.”
While the programmatic requirements and adjacencies are governed by functionality and simplicity, the building’s identity is more literally expressed in its form. On the exterior, the venue evokes the spirit of the performing arts through materiality and design. Via white plaster carve-outs, the building plays with the abstract shapes of musical instruments—including the body of a violin, the bell of a trumpet and the neck of the guitar—to create architectural elements such as the marquee and grand stair opening. Meanwhile, dark bronze, vertical, corrugated aluminum exterior panels mimic the texture of stage curtains while also echoing the area’s industrial history. The smooth white plaster carve-outs juxtapose the industrial elements, creating a cohesive design that respects the past while looking forward to the future.
Read more about the project, including design approaches and the new Equity & Justice Institute, in the March/April issue of School Construction News.