Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) in Troy, New York by GRIMSHAW

Article source: GRIMSHAW

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is one of America’s leading research universities with a reputation for creative and interactive learning and the application of information technology to education. The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) is a nexus of technological and artistic innovation and optimized performance space, where the intersection of science and the arts is explored through sound, movement and light.

Image Courtesy © Paul Rivera / Archphoto

• Architects: GRIMSHAW
• Project: Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)
• Location: Troy, New York
• Photography: Paul Rivera / Archphoto, Peter Aaron / Esto
• Client: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Size: 19,120 sq m/ 202,000 sq ft
• Completion Date: September 2008
• Cost: $140 million
• Consultants: David Brody Bond (Architect of Record), BuroHappold (Structural and Services Engineer), Saratoga Associates (Landscape Design)

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron / Esto

Grimshaw’s appointment to the project was the result of an international design competition. Sited on a steep hillside overlooking the Hudson River, the 200,000-square-foot building extends the existing RPI campus westward. It provides five different performance environments: an elegant 1,200-seat concert hall, a 400-seat theatre, two adaptive performance studios, and a dance studio. It also houses audio and video editing suites, artist-in-residence studios, and the campus radio station.

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron / Esto

Grimshaw has designed a multi-functional, multi-layered building in which performances and other activities can take place concurrently without absolute segregation of building users. Key to the design is the atrium space, which acts a hub for informal social interaction and as the lobby to the major spaces. The program was complex and technically demanding; including four separate venues rated to the acoustic noise criteria RC-15.

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron / Esto

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron / Esto

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron / Esto

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron / Esto

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron / Esto

Image Courtesy © Paul Rivera / Archphoto

Image Courtesy © Paul Rivera / Archphoto

Image Courtesy © Paul Rivera / Archphoto

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron / Esto

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron / Esto

Image Courtesy © Peter Aaron

Tags: New York, Troy

Category: Performing Arts Center

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