University of Maryland, College Park

The Performing Arts Center is one of the largest buildings at the flagship campus of the University System of Maryland near Washington, D.C. It also creates a striking new entrance for the campus and is a major addition to the performing arts and entertainment facilities in the area.

The University and the Maryland Department of General Services conducted an international juried design competition to select an architectural firm and specialized consultants. The goal was to assure a landmark building of exceptional functional, technical, and aesthetic quality to shape a vision for the development of the western portion of this campus of nearly 36,000 graduate and undergraduate students.

The Center's features include:

• 1,200-seat concert hall
• 650-seat proscenium theater
• 350-seat concert hall
• 200-seat dance studio
• 200-seat experimental theater
• 40 classrooms
• 38 teaching studios
• 46 practice rooms
• 107 faculty/staff offices
• Performing arts library

Completion: 2000
Size: 318,000 gsf on 24 acres
Cost: $90 million
Architect of Record: Ayers/Saint/Gross
Design Architect: Moore Ruble Yudell