DePaul University School of Music

Chicago, IL

Project Overview

DePaul University School of Music is a three-story, 185,000 square foot building consisting of performance, practice, and classroom space. It houses the 505-seat Mary Patricia Gannon Concert Hall, the 160-seat Sasha and Eugene Jarvis Opera Hall, the 140-seat Murray and Michele Allen Recital Hall, the 80-seat Brennan Family Recital Hall, and the 75-seat Mary A. Dempsey and Philip H. Corboy Jazz Hall along with state-of-the-art rehearsal spaces, a sound recording technology suite, box office, atrium café, and dynamic and flexible classrooms.

raSmith provided the cold-formed steel (CFS) exterior wall and roof framing design for this project. In addition, the majority of the CFS design work involved the interior platform framing (stage and seating areas), acoustic wall features of a variety of types and designs, and the acoustical clouds, including the massive walkable platform above the main auditorium. This cloud, weighing over 40 tons, is framed in CFS and features radiused and curved plaster-clad surfaces to maximize the acoustical qualities of the concert hall.

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