Performing Arts and Humanities Building

UMBC’s 176,000-square-foot Performing Arts and Humanities Building (PAHB) elevates the role of the arts and humanities on campus, bringing together multiple departments within a unified, state-of-the-art academic and performance facility. Designed by William Rawn Associates and constructed in two phases, the PAHB enhances teaching, research, creative production, and public outreach, serving as a major cultural destination for both the university and the wider community.

Phase 1: Theatre, English, and the Humanities

Phase 1 introduced a diverse mix of instructional, performance, and departmental spaces, including:

• Department of English: writing labs, seminar rooms, administrative suites, and faculty offices.

• Department of Theatre: a 250-seat proscenium theatre with flytower and flexible forestage, a 125-seat black box theater, rehearsal studios, a technical design lab, costume shop, scene shop, dressing rooms, and departmental offices.

• Dresher Center for the Humanities: spaces for the Humanities Scholar Program, Linehan Artist Scholars, Shakespeare Society of America, a shared study room, and faculty and administrative offices.

These Phase 1 spaces emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating technological infrastructure and performance support systems that reflect both the university’s artistic and academic missions.

Phase 2: Music, Dance, and Philosophy

Phase 2 expanded the facility to include:

• Department of Music: a 350-seat concert hall, instrument and large ensemble rooms, a music technology and keyboard lab, percussion studio, choral recording room, faculty research studio, conference room, and offices.

• Department of Dance: dance studios, a computer dance lab, sonic computer lab, warm-up studio, dressing rooms, locker rooms, and administrative areas.

• Department of Philosophy: a seminar classroom, breakout room, and faculty offices.

The Concert Hall accommodates a wide range of uses—including choral and instrumental ensembles, electronic compositions, recitals, rehearsals, and public lectures—supported by an advanced audiovisual and surround-sound system.

Engineering Systems Supporting a Large, Multidisciplinary Arts Complex

The scale and intensive programmatic demands of the PAHB required significant infrastructure upgrades across UMBC’s campus. Mueller engineered the expansion of the existing Central Plant to support the facility’s increased loads and extended the campus utility tunnel system to deliver electrical service, high-temperature heating water, and chilled water to the building.

Within the PAHB, Mueller designed specialized mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to support performance venues, rehearsal spaces, dance studios, fabrication shops, and technologically intensive music labs. Systems incorporate:

• Acoustic isolation strategies for theaters, studios, and practice rooms

• High-capacity HVAC solutions to manage internal loads from lighting, audiences, and equipment

• Precise temperature and humidity control for musical instruments and performance environments

• Robust electrical distribution and audiovisual system integration for technologically advanced teaching spaces

These engineering solutions ensure comfort, acoustic integrity, and operational reliability across a broad mix of performance, instructional, and research spaces.

The Performing Arts and Humanities Building stands as a major academic and cultural asset for UMBC—uniting disciplines, supporting creative expression, and providing the infrastructure needed for world-class performance and scholarship.