Project
New Construction
Location:
Rochester, NY
The Team:
Architect – William Rawn Associates
Theatre Consultant – Projects Consultants, Inc.
Completion:
August 2023
Description
Rochester Institute of Technology has officially opened the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED). It is RIT’s largest project since the Henrietta campus opening in 1968. Renovations on the building began in summer of 2020 and the building officially opened for students and faculty on August 28th, 2023.
The $120 million renovation features over 120,000 square feet of new construction with 27 classrooms, natural outdoor spaces, performing arts studios, the renovated Wallace Library, and the Sklarsky Glass Box Theatre, named after RIT benefactors Frank and Ruth Sklarsky.
The Sklarsky Glass Box Theatre is a versatile space with retractable theatre seats, completely adjustable lighting, and can hold up to 220 audience members. The glass-box/black-box is both used as a theater and a gallery space with multi-level seating and performance options.
The SHED prides itself on being a versatile space; various technologies have been integrated to promote the best possible experience in each venue. The Glass Box theatre, though visually stunning, posed acoustical challenges for some performances due to the majority of the walls being completely made of glass. To remedy this, the theatre features 27 of Wenger’s TransformTM Motorized Acoustical Banners to adjust the acoustics in the room to better support the performance. For example, the banners can be fully deployed to reduce loudness and improve clarity of sound during rock and amplified performances.
“We support a wide variety of performances in the theatre, everything from classical, to rock, to musical theatre, so having the ability to dampen the acoustics is very helpful”, says Josh Labman, the Technical Operations Manager of the hall.
There are approximately 70 different student teams and clubs meeting in the building along with different classes and study spaces. With the use of various state-of-the-art technologies, Rochester Institute of Technology has created a versatile space to support its students and created many different opportunities for performers and artists alike.
