’62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams College in Williamston, MA
and William Rawn Associates Architects, Inc. in Boston, MA

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Integrating a new, large-scale performing arts building onto a small liberal arts campus was a big challenge in terms of scale and massing of the building's exterior while creating successful connections through and out into the rest of the campus. Williams College achieved its institutional goal of improving its reputation as a performing arts center, expanding the capacity of its Theater and Dance Departments, and accommodating the famed Williamstown Theatre Festival with four major venues:

1. The encircling geometry of the 550-seat MainStage Theatre maximizes audience intimacy.
2. The CenterStage Theatre is a 200-seat "Studio Theater," that has an industrial character and includes movable balconies, a flexible lift, and a giant steel sliding door that opens directly onto the CenterStage lobby.
3. The Memorial Theatre is now an intimate 250-seat "thrust" type theater (a literal theater within a theater).
4. The Dance Studio (50'x 65') has three walls of glass and dramatic views of surrounding mountains.

"The Center for Theatre and Dance creates a powerful new home for the Theatre and Dance departments, and is a showpiece for the college community at large. It plays a central role in Williams College's liberal art mission," says Robert Baker-White, chair of the Department of Theatre. "It has allowed the College to greatly enrich and expand its Theatre and Dance curricula, he added.

Recognizing the educational mission of the building, the center breaks down connections among the arts. The Center is designed to emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary connections on a liberal arts campus. The design breaks down the separation between the Center's public and private areas, and infuses each space with flexibility. Open corridors and the Barn door encourage interaction between theatre and dance students and faculty.

The building organization and circulation patterns enable students and the public to pass by and engage back-of-house activities such as rehearsal spaces, break-out spaces, costume shops, faculty offices.

The College has a well-established pattern of narrow facades along Main Street. The form of the MainStage Lobby follows the consistent rhythm of narrow facades along Main Street and scale of surrounding buildings.

The Center is also home to the Williamstown Theatre Festival which is an important source of reve­nue and involvement for the Williamstown community in the summer.  Summer programs held at the Center provide opportunities for further participation in the performing arts by Williams students and local residents.

The jury said "Students are very lucky to have a building like this to study in. It invites people to move through and experience the beautiful and poetic space, really adding to the sense of campus."

Project Team: Williams College with William Rawn Associates Architects, Inc. and LeMessurier Engineers, structural engineering, Acoustical Dimensions, acoustic consulting and Theatre Projects Consultants, theater consultants.