TALI HALL

Eastside Prep

Kirkland, Washington

Eastside Preparatory School’s new 96,000-sf performing arts and educational building is called “TALI Hall,” named after the school’s “Think-Act-Lead-Innovate” slogan.

The project helps transform a collection of buildings into a dynamic and cohesive pedestrian-focused campus. Although the parcels are in close proximity to one another, the massing erosions and plaza-level transparency create a gracious pedestrian experience. This central pedestrian street enhances accessibility across the site connecting a newly created entry plaza to the existing dining hall, the recently completed TMAC science/gym building, TALI Hall and the playcourt/campus drop-off area.

The design for TALI Hall also accommodates the school’s program ambitions that required not only specificity, but also flexibility. The new facility includes a 15,000-sf flexible theater space with set shop, control booth, dressing rooms and wardrobe storage. The theater is designed to accommodate a variety of productions (black box, thrust, theater-in-the-round), performances (theatrical and musical), and community and educational opportunities (all-school meetings, banquettes, lectures, movies and classes.) An operable wall can be opened to connect an upper balcony (aka lecture/dance hall) to the main theater to accommodate upwards of 650 people. The retractable seating system can be stored under the sound booth. Black-out curtains and operable glass walls can be opened to provide daylight and connections to the main atrium at the heart of the building. The flexibility of the theater — which is a significant volume of space on the campus — allows it to be an active community space for the school without compromising the performance requirements.

The project was completed on a very restricted time-frame and budget. The fast-track project was permitted in 8 months, and built for $230 per square foot (hard cost), less than half of comparable private school projects in the Puget Sound, allowing the young school to buy the campus and invest in its endowment to create operational sustainability.

 

Client: www.eastsideprep.org
Contractor: www.schuchart.com

EPS Inspire,A Look Inside TALI: Building Intentional Spaces