Overture Center for the Arts

Location
Madison WI

Design Architect
Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

Executive Architect
Potter Lawson & Flad Architects

Acoustician
Kirkegaard Associates

Construction Manager
J H Findorff & Son

Awards
2008 American Architecture Award
2008 Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence
2008 AIA Connecticut Design Award
2004 Project of the Year, Cultural Category, Midwest Construction Magazine

Architect Cesar Pelli elegantly combined renovated, rehabbed, and new elements to create this unified arts center for Wisconsin’s capital. The challenging undertaking brought together seven formal venues, a dozen resident companies, and an urban site with existing historic structures, all while respecting the intense civic engagement characteristic of Madison’s residents. While at Theatre Projects, Nextstage Design principal Gene Leitermann served as project manager and principal in charge, working closely with the owner, users, and project team over a six-year design and construction period.

Users
Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society | Broadway series | Children’s Theater of Madison | Forward Theater Company | Kanopy Dance | Li Chaio-Ping Dance | Madison Ballet | Madison Opera | Madison Symphony Orchestra | Wisconsin Academy | Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra

Construction Type
New construction
Renovation
Adaptive reuse

Square Feet
390,000

Cost
$159 million

Completion
2006

Spaces
2,255-seat multipurpose theater
1,090-seat multipurpose theater
350-seat thrust theater
300-seat children’s theater
100, 150, 250-seat multipurpose rooms

Photography © Frans Swarte © Eric Plautz © Jamie Young © Mike Rebholz © Gene Leitermann