
This is a view looking up the north wall of EMPAC
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute celebrated the opening of its new
220,000-sq.-ft. Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center
(EMPAC) this month, designed and completed by a team of several
specialists that included Grimshaw Architects, Davis Brody Bond
Aedas, and Buro Happold Consulting Engineers.
EMPAC houses a 1,200-seat concert hall, a 400-seat theater, two
adaptive environmental studios, an audio and visual production
suite, artists-in-residence studios, and a dance studio. The
acousticians of Kirkegaard Associates achieved total acoustic
isolation for the four main venues of the concert hall, the
theater, and the two studios. Rensselaer mandated a NC-15 noise
criteria for all four main venues and the audio production suite.
The project is built off a plane of the campus and into the
hillside. It serves as a pathway for students to get from the
street up to campus. A cafe is located at the base of the concert
hall. "We were very keen that this is a social space on campus,"
says William Horgan, associate principal with Grimshaw.
Perhaps the most visually striking element is the shell of the
concert hall. The room is
"wrapped" inside a hull of curved cedar planks. This egg-shaped
structure hovers within the glass exterior enclosure and actually
supports the roof.
The project is being submitted for LEED certification and is
seeking a Silver rating.
ChetanGrimshaw Leads the Charge on Rensselaer EMPAC Project
Oct 21, 2008

This is a view looking up the north wall of EMPAC
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute celebrated the opening of its new 220,000-sq.-ft. Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) this month, designed and completed by a team of several specialists that included Grimshaw Architects, Davis Brody Bond Aedas, and Buro Happold Consulting Engineers.
EMPAC houses a 1,200-seat concert hall, a 400-seat theater, two adaptive environmental studios, an audio and visual production suite, artists-in-residence studios, and a dance studio. The acousticians of Kirkegaard Associates achieved total acoustic isolation for the four main venues of the concert hall, the theater, and the two studios. Rensselaer mandated a NC-15 noise criteria for all four main venues and the audio production suite.
The project is built off a plane of the campus and into the hillside. It serves as a pathway for students to get from the street up to campus. A cafe is located at the base of the concert hall. "We were very keen that this is a social space on campus," says William Horgan, associate principal with Grimshaw.
Perhaps the most visually striking element is the shell of the concert hall. The room is
"wrapped" inside a hull of curved cedar planks. This egg-shaped structure hovers within the glass exterior enclosure and actually supports the roof.
The project is being submitted for LEED certification and is seeking a Silver rating.