The Colburn School for music and dance broke ground Friday on its planned 100,000-square-foot downtown Los Angeles campus expansion designed by famed architect Frank Gehry.
The new building, known as the Colburn Center, will include a 1,000-seat concert hall, four professional-sized dance studios and a 100-seat studio theater in a complex constructed near another Gehry-designed landmark — the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
“The Colburn Center will be a game changer, stepping up everything we do for the school’s own community, for our peer organizations that make the L.A. artistic ecosystem so vibrant, and for the public that we look forward to welcoming,” said Sel Kardan, president/CEO of the Colburn School. “At Colburn, making performances accessible to L.A. audiences is as much a part of our core mission as making first-rate music and dance education available to everyone. These are the same values we see in the wonderful design by Frank Gehry: artistic excellence at the highest level, combined with a deep love for the dynamism and diversity that animate life in a great city.”
The project is expected to reach substantial completion during the first quarter of 2027.
“Frank Gehry is a Los Angeles icon and a dear friend, and I am delighted that Colburn is moving forward with their Gehry-designed expansion,” county Supervisor Hilda L. Solis said. “This is another initiative that complements L.A. County’s significant investment to uplift cultural institutions along Grand Avenue — and with the opening of the Metro Regional Connector, we are truly creating a world-class hub for cultural, art, innovation, and entertainment. I look forward to a new Colburn Center that is inclusive for all Angelenos.”
The Colburn Center will also add a rooftop garden that will be large enough to host receptions and outdoor performances, as well as a ground-level garden with a dedicated performance space that will be open to the public.
The project on the corner of Olive and Second streets will also include an outdoor plaza, gardens and access to nearby public transit stations.
Colburn officials said roughly $315 million toward the school’s $400 million fundraising effort has been secured for the project, led by a gift from Terri and Jerry Kohl, whose names will adorn the 1,000-seat concert hall within the expansion.