Globe News Center for the Performing Arts, Amarillo, Texas

   The combination isn’t new, but in the past, most performance venues found that to balance these very different art forms they were forced make significant compromises.  Too often the attempt to excel in tasks this diverse resulted in a building that is mediocre at both. 
   The technical vision of Malcolm Holzman and the design team at New York-based Holzman Moss Architecture offered Amarillo an innovative solution to their dilemma – one that ultimately allowed both functions to reach the highest levels of quality.
   And, as part of that vision, red sandstone encloses the 1,300-seat performance hall in a 71,000 ft² structure inspired by images of the Texas Panhandle – a building with a sense of place.
  
THE DESIGN
   Malcolm Holzman's buildings are valued for their evocative nature and singular character; he believes in rooting buildings and spaces in their communities and respecting their environment.  Holzman felt it was most-important was to make the performance center a landmark in the community.
   His observations of West Texas and the Panhandle led him to create a building that speaks of Amarillo.  The design is a synthesis of the terrain of neighboring Palo Duro Canyon, and the geometric vistas formed by land divisions and irrigation patterns which dominate the landscape of the Panhandle. 
   The undulating roofline and red-sandstone-clad walls of the building are immediately recognizable.  They echo the Spanish Skirts of the canyon, replicating the view provided by the local landmark.
   It was a bold plan that created the reflection of an image everybody in Amarillo treasures.  Michael Connolly, one of the project architects, said, “We shot aerial views of the region ourselves and then went to the Internet to get satellite images.  We wanted the building to appear as random and natural as possible.” 
  
IN STONE
   Splitface Red Colorado Sandstone mirrors the color of the canyon walls. The stone modulates through a natural range of colors from cream to red, and the 4" cladding wasn't sorted for color.  This resulted in considerable savings in cost while, at the same time, the variance from red to cream within each stone enhanced the natural appearance of the walls of the building.
   The stone was quarried at the Blue Mountain Stone Quarry near Lyons, Colo., and cut to size by Colorado Custom Rock of Boulder, Colo.  Lyons-formation sandstone is stratified in some areas and solid (hardrock) in others.  It's durable, abrasive, quartzitic sandstone suited to all weather conditions, and has very high crushing and tensile strength. 
   The ashlar-cut stone used for the walls of the center is arranged in 2" to 12" coursings, with random lengths up to 24". The top of the sandstone was not tooled and has a tolerance of 1/16".  Tight joints and recessed mortar allow the full depth and shape of the split-faced stone to be seen;  it also helps to emphasize the wall as a singular monumental stone surface, instead of a surface simply built up of multiple small stones.
   Texture was also used to augment the natural appearance of the walls.  Rough-texture splitface stones 2" in height were cut to a depth of 6" and interspaced in the 4" sandstone cladding to create a shadow effect replicating the craggy surface of the canyon walls.  Their random pattern is so evocative of the neighboring canyon that the architects began the ‘natural design’ 12' above ground level to discourage rock climbers.
   The exterior sandstone walls curve into the interior lobby space, essentially wrapping the concert hall and enveloping it in one consistent material.  Holzman and the design team feel that this wrapping effect helps to delineate sections of the building and assists patrons in navigating the space; they used a corresponding effect on the smaller, rehearsal hall portion of the building.
  
AND BRICKS
   The masonry on the support space/rehearsal hall includes two types of clay bricks from Texas, which also evoke the colors of Palo Duro Canyon.  On the exterior walls of this section of the complex, three different colored Acme bricks, in varying shades of ochre, are installed backward, exposing grooves from the conveyor belt used during their fabrication.  The grooves add texture and shade to the walls, blending them into the Texas landscape. 
   As the brick wall wraps into the lobby, it encloses and defines the support space of the center.  Extruded terra-cotta-colored bricks from D’Hanis Brick are used on the interior; the clay for these bricks is taken from a pit near D’Hanis, Texas, and gives the bricks their distinctive coloring. 
   The architects used 12" bricks formed in a zigzag design to add interest to the hall.
  
AND MORTAR
   Brazos Masonry of Waco, Texas, won a 2006 International Excellence in Masonry Award from the Mason Contractors Association of America for their work on the Globe News Center.  The unique design of the building, along with the harsh wind and winter weather in Amarillo, presented a challenge to the masons, who began the project in August of 2004 and completed their work in May 2005. 
   The serpentine walls of the rehearsal hall – a lazy ‘S’ with varying radii – required special attention. In addition, the groves in the bricks on that wall, which were set in a running bond, were not supposed to align from one course to the next. 
   Though this posed a double set of concerns, Kelsie Bounds, project manager on the job, enjoys the result.  “Because the groves never run in one continuous line, they produce an almost mosaic effect on the exterior walls of the space,” she says.
   The rear wall of the stage house is 104' 6" in height, with no openings set into the expanse of stone.  Raked back joints don’t interfere with the true color of the red sandstone, and the natural effect is evident on this vast expanse.  Mast-climbing scaffolding towers and platforms with gas-powered pulleys were used in the construction of the wall; outrigger cranes on the scaffolding brought materials up to the platforms and resulted in significant savings in time and cost.
   In all, Brazos set 1,100 tons of sandstone, 190,000 Acme bricks and 12,000 D’Hanis bricks on the structure.  Mackie Bounds, president of Brazos Masonry has worked on three other Holzman designed buildings.  He enjoys working with Holzman and appreciates Holzman’s love and understanding of stone. 
    “We’ve changed the skyline of Amarillo forever,” Mackie says.
  
LOBBY
   The three-story lobby, tied to the exterior environment by the curving red sandstone and ochre brick, flows outward into the landscape.  Blue/yellow/green glass walls give the lobby a sense of space; the varying shades of the panes create a festive, kaleidoscopic effect. 
   Capping the glass walls is a ceiling of shiny metal, provided by another element familiar to the panhandle region.  The ceiling is assembled from panels used in cattle trailers.
    "I've been coming to Texas for years, and it's hard to drive down the highway and not see cattle trucks," Holzman says. "Put on the ceiling, people might not recognize the panels at first, and doing this would not be appropriate in another part of the country."
    But in Amarillo the ceiling works on all levels.  It not only fits the locale, it provides an unusual, surprise element to the space.  The innovative use of an everyday material was also cost-effective.
  
ACOUSTICS
   The architects worked with a small Globe-News Center committee as the project progressed, envisioning what the different art forms would need in a multi-use facility.  The stage floor, the acoustics and the seating area all had to be considered if it were to be excellent for a symphony, an opera, a ballet or a musical theatre production.
   Whether listening to a full concert orchestra or a solo cellist, musical theatre or a dramatic reading, sound quality is assured by the versatility of the space.  The performing arts hall is acoustically adjustable.  A dramatic, curvaceous orange shell composed of glue laminated timber and OSB encapsulates both stage and audience. 
   Designed as a reverberant chamber, the shell allows sound to travel through openings in the audience seating area and return into the hall from a series of adjustable acoustical panels and draperies above and behind the shell.  This is especially effective when listening to symphonic music. 
   And the design team added another unique element.  To further enhance the sound quality during symphony performances, the portion of the shell surrounding the stage is movable.  The single-piece, moving orchestra shell transforms the stage and fly loft from an open and flexible space for theatrical events into a tuned musical environment.  Suspended on a 50-ton overhead bridge crane, this orchestra shell glides forward at the press of a button to transform the hall into an intimate, contained musical venue.
   The dedication to acoustics carries into the full-scale rehearsal hall, another acoustically adjustable space also acoustically isolated from the main hall.  To accomplish this feat, slabs for the rehearsal hall were poured separately, and no steel elements carry through both sections of the building.
    
SUMMARY
   Fitting into Amarillo had so much to do with capturing local flavor.  A kaleidoscope curtain of glass covers the front of the center; cattle-truck panels shine brightly on the ceiling, floor; fabric designs capture an abstract aerial view of farm and ranch; and soaring sandstone walls reflect the canyon landscape.
   "It is important to make it feel like it belongs in the community," says Holzman.  "Functionally, we had technical considerations as we made decisions about acoustics, and we always had to remain conscious of the budget, but most important was that the center remains a landmark in the community." 
   And it is a success at every level; there's not a bad seat in the house.

Client: Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, Amarillo, Texas
Architect: Holzman Moss Architecture, New York
Stone Sources: Colorado Custom Rock, Boulder, Colo.
Masonry Contractor: Brazos Masonry, Waco, Texas

This article first appeared in the June 2006 print edition of Stone Business. ©2006 Western Business Media Inc.