Menlo School, Atherton, CA
23,000 sf creative arts, 36,000 sf performance hall

The Menlo School is a 6-12 grade private school in the heart of Silicon Valley, offering a rigorous, engaging academic curriculum complemented by outstanding creative arts and athletics programs. THA Architecture developed a master plan and conceptual design for the School's Performance Hall and Creative Arts Building. The master plan concept encourages interdisciplinary collaboration between the arts, as well as providing independent spaces for various departments.

The Performance Hall houses: a 350-seat audience chamber; a 2,000 sf lobby; a green room; costume shops; scene fabrications shop; a kitchen; a dance studio; offices and the school bookstore. As well as serving the Menlo School's performance and assembly needs, the Performance Hall will be home to Music@Menlo, a highly regarded three week festival of concerts, classes and lectures during the summer.

The Creative Arts Building houses studios for drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video and recording. Additional program elements include music performance rooms, sectional rooms, digital and computer technology classrooms, offices, an art gallery and collections storage.

The buildings are designed to be compatible in scale, materials and forms to the existing campus context, yet create a distinctive symbol for the arts at the School.