Over the course of three summers, crews of over 200 craftsmen worked seven days a week, 24 hours a day while school was not in session, to extensively renovate the lobby and theatre. Renovations in Eastman Theatre’s performance venue were completed in just 91 calendar days. The expanded lobby now includes five seating lounges and Betty’s Café. The renovation was completed to meet the deadline for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Eastman School of Music’s grand opening performances.

The renovation reduced seating capacity from 3,094 to 2,326 for a more intimate experience and to improve acoustics. Over 1,600 seats were replaced, and over 500 were fully restored. Prefabricated custom two level boxes with Adirondack custom face panels were installed along the sides of the theatre at the orchestra and mezzanine levels.

The addition was constructed on an extremely tight site with virtually no lay down area. The six-story, sky-lit Wolk Atrium features a magnificent large-scale, suspended Dale Chihuly sculpture created especially for the space.

Hatch Recital Hall, an intimate 222-seat performance space, is wired for digital internet transmission and custom recordings. The wing also includes new faculty offices and studios, a state-of-the-art recording studio, a large rehearsal room, box office, and theatre gift shop.

The expansion portion of the project involved the installation of custom sound attenuated air handlers, custom sound walls and ceilings, and a new chilled water system.