Provision of Unconventional Spaces for an Urban School

Frank Sinatra School of the Arts creates a powerful architectural identity for this 1,000-student public high school for the visual and performing arts, providing unconventional spaces for an urban school. The design celebrates the school's arts curriculum while connecting it visually, programmatically and spatially to the surrounding community.

The 147,000 sf building, which occupies a full block on 35th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, directly across the street from Kaufman Astoria Studios and the Museum of the Moving Image, reinforces the neighborhood's connection to its cultural and civic buildings and enlivens the street with performance events open to the public.

At the heart of the five-story structure is the 800-seat, state-of-the-art Tony Bennett Concert Hall, with its curved form visible from the street through an open and active double-height lobby. A perimeter frame of daylit classrooms and studios open onto the central atrium space on each floor. This shared internal space encourages the interaction of students and faculty of different disciplines and provides a venue for performance and the display of student work. This primary central space underscores the defining characteristic of the school environment: engaging and exploring the arts.

The glass enclosed studios for dance, music and visual arts located directly above the lobby contrast with the masonry facades on the east and west facades of the building, providing expansive views into the rehearsal and studio spaces for passersby, while providing students with views of the surrounding context and drawing the city inside.

Including three theaters, studios for art, instrumental and vocal music and dance, galleries, media center, gymnasium, the five-story structure culminates in a rooftop landscape courtyard for gatherings and outdoor performances. By conveying a sense of openness and welcome to the urban context, the overall design celebrates performance and a vibrant community of the arts within the building, while forging strong connections to the surrounding neighborhood.