Jenison Center for the Arts

1. JONES - PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES, LLC
Jenison Center for the Arts
Jenison, Michigan


When Van Phillips, principle design consultant at Jones - Phillips Associates, and Fred
Gore, senior design architect with URS Corporation, sat down to plan a project for Jenison
Public Schools, Phillips saw the potential to make a major leap forward in performing arts cen-
ter design. They made that leap designing The Jenison Public School’s Center for the Arts.
After completing more than twenty projects together, the duo agreed to focus on a complete-
ly different stage arrangement. Nearly every school and small college program is more driven
by music than by drama. Drama programs are relatively small and music programs can be
huge, sometimes involving as much as a third of the student body in some kind of music. Phil-
lips and Gore conceived of the idea to build a concert hall that could also be transformed into
an excellent theatre. They wanted real concert hall acoustics for music and wished to eliminate
the need for huge moving orchestra shell towers.
The space features a 90-foot stage opening; at its full width, the stage can accommodate a
large high school orchestra and a choir in a loft that surrounds the stage. To arrange for a the-
atrical production, tall sliding walls can be moved onto the stage to form a 40-foot-wide pro-
scenium. Over the forestage, an acoustical "eyebrow" lowers to form the top of the theatrical
opening. The 17-foot-deep and 48-foot-long eyebrow assembly features a large speaker cluster
that adjusts depending on the elevation of the eyebrow. Changeover from Concert Hall to The-
atre can be accomplished by faculty and students in under 30 minutes.
Phillips and Gore together with their respective firms were awarded a US Copyright for the
architectural design of “A Concert Hall that transforms into a Full Working Theatre.” The bene-
fits of this unique design have sparked a flash of interest among performing arts educators.

Design Team:


Architects:

URS Corporation
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Acoustical Consultants:

Henderson Engineering
Kansas City, Missouri
Client:

Jenison Public Schools
Scope of Work

User Programming
Facility Conceptual Planning Study
Seating and Sightlines
Room Design-
Control Suite
Concert Setting Design and
Theatrical Setting Design
Specification
Stage and House Technical
Systems - Lighting & Rigging
Seating Systems
Design and Specification
Project Information

Type: Concert Hall
and Theatre
Seating: 1,222

Completion Date

December 3 2013

Project Budget

$16 Million
(With new Administrative Offices for the system)

2. JONES - PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES, LLC
Jenison Center for the Arts
Jenison, Michigan
Opening Concert
Starting with the
opening
performance
December 3,
2013, the venue
hosted 17
performances in
18 nights
switching back
and forth as a
concert and
theatre venue

3. JONES - PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES, LLC

Jenison Center for the Arts
Jenison, Michigan
Transformed Into a Theatre
Typical day setup as a Concert Hall
To solve the
unique technical
requirements
needed to make
this concept
work, Beck Stu-
dios coordinated
features with JR
Clancy for spe-
cialized rigging
and Wenger for
the eyebrow.

4. JONES - PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES, LLC
In under 30 minutes the venue
becomes a theatre
with a fly system, masking
and wing space.

Jenison Center for the Arts
Jenison, Michigan
Assisted by motorized rigging, the transformation begins.

5. JONES - PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES, LLC

Jenison Center for the Arts
Jenison, Michigan
Setup for a Musical
Choir Loft Level Concert Floor
Setup for a Play

6. JONES - PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES, LLC

Jenison Center for the Arts
Jenison, Michigan