Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) in Houston, Texas, is one of the top-ranked performing arts schools
in the country. After an extensive search for a new facility, school administration decided to open a new location in downtown Houston and design
a building to meet the growing needs of the school. Part of the plan included first-class music education, acoustic,
staging, lighting, and rigging equipment for the many performing arts spaces within the school.

The $88 million project would ultimately feature specialized performance and fine arts spaces to enhance the artistic environment of the school. Architects drew the plans for a five-story, 168,000-square-foot building featuring a dramatic front entrance with double-high glass windows and a wide stairwell, 800-seat main theater with a balcony, dance and music studios, 150-seat recital hall, 200-seat theater, 190-seat black box theater, rehearsal rooms, modern outdoor dining area, two levels of underground parking and an outdoor roof terrace.

In the Black Box Theatre, Wenger’s portable audience seating and StageTek® risers provide flexible configurations for the theatre’s many needs. They’re lightweight, strong, and easy and quick to set up or move. Lighting integration, distribution and lighting controls, as well as a Tension Grid, curtains, and tracks round out the technology.

For the band, orchestra, and vocal areas, Wenger installed
31 SoundLok® Practice Rooms with superior sound isolation, making each room 25 percent quieter than any other practice room available. The correct amount of absorption and diffusion is built-in so the musician can clearly hear the best possible
sound. The rooms also have built-in virtual acoustic environment (VAE) technology, allowing the musician to learn how to adapt to performing in different performance spaces and get immediate
feedback with record/playback during the practice session.

The equipment in the new facility is providing students, staff, and faculty the opportunity to improve their performances, continuing the school’s long-standing tradition and nationwide acknowledgement of excellence.