September was an exciting month for the team at Theatre Projects Consultants (TPC) with the opening of three major projects: the Auditorio Telmex (September 1), the Tempe Center for the Arts (September 8), and the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre (September 15). TPC collaborated on the design, planning, and equipment specifications for all three facilities providing services from programming through construction. With a diverse set of requirements and functions, each of these new facilities meets specific needs for these growing communities.
Auditorio Telmex
The largest theatre to open in September was the Auditorio Telmex, constructed in conjunction with the University of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico at a cost of 450 million pesos (US $40 million). Design architect Moyao Arquitectos (Mexico City) and TPC created an auditorium that easily adjusts to accommodate between 3,000 and 10,000 audience members. The flexibility is due in part to the motorized balcony seating towers—a highlight of the project. The seating towers track into the auditorium, adjusting the fan shape of the theatre from 100 degrees to 80 degrees. The venue is designed to accommodate both large touring concerts as well as smaller-scale productions such as children’s theatre and dance performances.
Tempe Center For The Arts
Theatre Projects, design architect Barton Myers Associates (Los Angeles), and executive architect Architekton (Tempe, AZ) have created one of the most engaging spaces for the arts in the southwest. The $63 million Tempe Center for the Arts, located in the Phoenix Metropolitan area, features a 600-seat multipurpose proscenium theatre and a 200-seat studio theatre. In addition to the two performance spaces, there is a 3,400 square foot multipurpose meeting and reception room which overlooks a scenic landscape of lakes and mountains. The facility also caters to the visual arts by offering classes and featuring a rotating art gallery which exhibits both local and international works.
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center
The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, located northwest of Atlanta, presented an exciting opportunity to TPC and the architectural firm Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates (Atlanta). The Cobb Energy Center made use of available land and resources to construct a state-of-the-art facility easily accessible from downtown Atlanta and the outlying communities. In the case of the opening performance of the Atlanta Opera’s production of Puccini’s Turandot, the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority estimated that as much as 40 percent of the audience was seeing an opera for the first time. At $106 million, this performing arts center features a 2,750-seat multipurpose theatre and a 10,000 square foot ballroom with an adjoining three-story lobby. In addition to the current space, TPC has provided design and planning for a future outdoor amphitheatre that will complement the new arts center.