Mount De Sales Academy Center for Performing Arts and Student Life
Mount De Sales Academy Center for Performing Arts and Student Life in Catonsville, MD is a 24,000 SF multi-use building that serves the school and the community. Originally started in 1852, this school is the first Catholic institution in Baltimore County to offer education to young women of all denominations. The main school building evokes the Greek Revival style and is listed on the Maryland Historic Register. The new Performing Arts building occupies a prominent location adjacent to the main building and serves as an anchor to the campus creating a quad-like experience. JMT Architecture aesthetically designed the new center to blend into the rest of the campus using similar elements as other buildings such as brick, stone, arched windows, tall ionic columns, and red metal roofs.
JMT Architecture provided interior design services for the new Performing Arts and Student Life building. While the exterior of the building design was slated to match the traditional style of the existing buildings on campus, there was room to experiment with transitional design within the interior of the space. The elevated ceiling as you enter the lobby created the perfect opportunity to display dynamic decorative chandeliers and painted trims & moldings that frame out the space. Porcelain wall and floor tile in neutral tones completed the space. The lobby is meant to be a canvas to display students’ artwork between the carefully place picture rails throughout. Finishes for the auditorium just off the lobby were selected to align with the functional goals for the space. Materials were considered that would achieve the overall aesthetic purpose while maintaining the acoustical properties for optimum use of the space.
The new building also includes instructional spaces for the orchestra, chorus and dance. The new Performing Arts Center enhances the already vigorous arts program by providing more space and allowing all the activities on campus to be in one location.
