Portfolio | Projects & Clients | Awards | Design Process

Colburn School of Performing Arts

Los Angeles, California

Previously housed in a warehouse, the Colburn School of Performing Arts is now located in a boldly expressed facility in the heart of downtown L.A. The dramatically lit exterior leads to an interior with subtle layers of light defining spatial rhythms. This creates an environment conducive to the school's mission - uplifting, creative, beckoning. Despite a tight budget and acoustical challenges, HLB and HHPA worked together to ensure the series of inspirational spaces were linked together successfully by technical, emotional and aesthetic issues.

The heart of the school is Zipper Hall.   Providing a warm and inviting environment for both audience and performers, acoustical, theatrical, and architectural systems work together seamlessly.   The suspended discs over the stage are acoustical reflectors … and chandeliers too, as light passes through them.   Theatrical pipes (on chain motors for re-lamping) support both stage and house lighting equipment overhead.   The rhythm of wood and plaster detailing along the side walls is emphasized with low-wattage incandescent wash lights.   Several solutions were considered with samples and mock-ups to ensure a well integrated effect.

Electric light is balanced with daylight, warm with cool.   After sunset, half of the lamps are switched off for a lower ambient level of light.   Dance studios use a combination of simple incandescent and fluorescent industrial luminaires.   As you step outdoors, the dramatic form of Zipper Hall is expressed with a combination of fluorescent and metal halide sources, a true beacon in the expanding arts district of downtown Los Angeles.

The School's lighting design has been recognized with an IIDA Award of Merit and a Lumen West Award of Excellence.

HLB has also designed the lighting for the 229,000 square foot expansion facility which was completed in 2007 and provides a residential learning opportunity for students, including the auditorium (house lighting), rehearsal and practice rooms, studios, lobbies, circulation, executive offices, student services, student and faculty lounges, classrooms, library, cafeteria, housing units, exterior plaza/building entries, and façade.