OWNER: Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
ARCHITECT: Gehry Partners, Santa Monica, Calif.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: DeSimone Consulting Engineers, NYC
MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING ENGINEER: Cosentini Associates, NYC
STEEL FABRICATOR (curved steel): Columbia Wire and Iron Works of Portland, Ore
STEEL FABRICATOR (conventional steel): Berkshire Bridge & Iron of Dalton, Mass.
STAINLESS STEEL FABRICATOR: A. Zahner Co., Kansas City, Mo.
STEEL ERECTOR: Brownell Steel Inc. of Scotia, NY
STEEL DETAILER: Angle Detailing, Wilsonville, Ore.
CONCRETE CONTRACTOR: Darlind Construction, Lagrangeville, NY
GEOTHERMAL DESIGN ENGINEER: RJ Dooley and Associates Inc., Poughkeepsie, NY
THEATER CONSULTANT: Theatre Project Consultants, Ridgefield, Conn.
ACOUSTIC CONSULTANT: Nagata Acoustics Inc., Santa Monica, Calif.
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Daniel O'Connell's Sons Inc., Holyoke, Mass.

The fact that the Bard College Performing Arts Center in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., was designed by Frank O. Gehry may make it a bigger attraction than some of the college's opera, dance, theatrical or orchestra productions.

To begin with, the design incorporates curved surfaces with two distinct surface applications. The performance theater has curving walls around the entire perimeter, while the teaching facility has a warped roof system. Each application posed unique challenges, but the process by which a solution was rendered is similar.

The genesis of each surface was developed from the architect's physical model. Once this was achieved in physical form it was digitized using a large armature that reads spatial coordinates from hundreds of control points on the surface. The coordinates are read into a software program and then meshed to form a contiguous surface.

To achieve economy, chaotic shapes were made regular so that each element could be fit with a structural grid work on a 10-ft. model. Support lines representing structural steel ribs and bracing were drawn in and then exported to structural analysis software. Once designed, accurate solid shapes and connections could be fabricated.

The steel ribs of the performance theater extend from the ground level up to 50 ft. to 75 ft. to the underside of the main roof. To avoid the use spray fireproofing and epoxy paint systems, the structural roof was cantilevered through the auditorium walls so that the ribs could act as mullions instead.

In addition, the cantilevering removed an imposed vertical load on the curved steel members; greatly reducing the bending stresses.

Sequencing and the coordination of three major structural trades also posed project complications because there were many points of interface between the main theater's cast-in-place concrete walls, the teaching theater's reinforced masonry and the transition area and the envelope's structural steel. To expedite and coordinate work, these trades performed their tasks simultaneously.

To coordinate the entire project team and all of its work disciplines required streamlining the communication system using Project Talk, an Internet-based system. All of the project's subcontractors, design team members, consultants and the construction manager linked to a common data base to share, review, respond and react to information.

The project's program, acoustical requirements and heating and cooling system were also areas addressed by the development team.

The project's program was challenging because of the multipurpose functions of Theater 1. Each function has a different priority that needed to be addressed within the theater. The solution to this challenge was the project's final design.

Acoustical requirements impacted every consultant on the project, from the detailer to the HVAC engineer. The solution was two-fold: one was the use of concrete and the other was each consultant developed its own solution through the design process for different areas of the project.

Use of a geo-thermal heating and cooling system was innovative. This system consists of 150, 500-ft. deep wells with heat exchanger and polyethylene pipes with a U-Bend at the bottom to provide 100 percent of the project's required heating and cooling needs.

The jury praised the team for implementing what it called "a difficult design" on a constrained budget and for the project's innovative use of geo-thermal energy.