The Stages at Northstar will be a freeform mass timber building located in a forested landscape in Truckee, California. This 22-acre complex is designed to support indoor and outdoor performances, exhibits, and festivals and provide opportunities for youth educational drama programs. The 84,000+ sq. ft. main building contains three primary theaters as well as other spaces for diverse programming and multi-use events.
The use of mass timber for the primary structural system offers several benefits, including reduced structural mass, which also helps to reduce foundation and lateral load-resisting system requirements. This sustainable material also provides design flexibility and can be molded into complex curves. In addition to wood’s ability to sequester carbon, the use of exposed wood structure provides warmth and reduces the need for applied finishes.
With this new complex, the Tahoe Regional Arts Foundation will provide world-class, year-round performances and cultural opportunities for the Greater Tahoe Region for generations to come. The Tahoe Regional Arts Foundation challenged us to create a world-class building worthy of showcasing traditional and new visual and performing arts. Our team went to work creating a dramatic and celebratory building, true to its purpose and worthy of its majestic surrounding landscape. The sculpture-like building feels natural in its environment and, from a distance, blends in with rather than alters the visual lines of the valley.
