The Regional Center for the Arts is a 250-student performing arts magnet school serving 15 towns in and around the Trumbull area. The new facility contains professional quality spaces for instruction and performance of dance, musical theater, drama and music, including a 250-seat full proscenium theater and black box theater.
In order to create an individual identity for each of the program areas, distinct classroom pods were created inside the building, becoming the vehicle for breaking the scale of the building down to address and respect the adjacent residential neighborhood. These units were consciously shaped to replicate the scale and pattern of the adjacent neighborhood. Materials used include cedar boards, batten siding and aluminum panels.
In contrast, the building entry facade dramatically reveals and expresses the energy and vitality of the program with a curved curtainwall sweeping from a single-story classroom wing to a dramatic three-story lobby space.
Recognition:
AIA CT Design Award, 2008
Learning by Design, Honorable Mention, 2009
American School and University Specialized Facility Citation, 2008
RCA has been featured by Architectural Record in Schools of the 21st Century .