The award-winning Sparano + Mooney Architects, known for creating sustainable and thoughtful architecture within the American West, has completed three notable buildings on the Utah State University Campus, with another signature building set to open in 2025.
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (NEHMA)
The original Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (NEHMA) building was designed by American architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and completed in 1982 as an expansion of the larger Fine Arts Center on the campus of Utah State University (USU). Sparano + Mooney Architecture’s design of the museum’s new addition is a quietly restrained form that does not compete with nor mimic the existing museum nor the adjacent signature building, a 2006 Sasaki-designed Performing Arts Center. Rather the addition creates a new public plaza that connects the two buildings in a neutral response to a visually complex context.
Daines Concert Hall
The Newel and Jean Daines Concert Hall project includes the complete renovation of the former Kent Concert Hall to create a new state-of-the-art space for orchestra, band, and choral programs. The renovation includes a new acoustical shell; acoustically reconfigured walls and finishes; and upgraded theatrical, audio, and lighting equipment to enhance the acoustic performance of the venue for both performers and audiences. The new concert hall serves audiences throughout the region with world-class music and programming in a newly renovated and state-of-the-art cultural facility.
Sid Perkes Theatrical Design Complex
Part of the Utah State University Department of Theatre Arts and the Caine College of the Arts, this project includes the expansion and renovation of the existing Scene and Costume Shops, which support the Morgan Theatre and other local theatrical venues. The new 8,000-square-foot addition by Sparano + Mooney Architecture provides the necessary tooling, layout, equipment, and storage space for the design and construction of theatrical scenery, including a new paint booth and dust evacuation system. The upper level of the facility provides new work and teaching space for theatrical costume production, including new sewing stations, layout and worktables, fabric storage, fitting rooms, a dye vat, laundry facilities, and faculty offices.
Art Research & Education Center at NEHMA
Anticipated to open summer or fall 2025, the newest campus work will be adjacent to the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art and accommodate 40% more collection storage for the museum. According to Executive Director & Chief Curator, Katie Lee Koven, one of the important goals for the building is to accommodate the museum’s growing collection and support its 21st-century learning needs by creating learning spaces that are more engaged. Rather than act as additional gallery space, the new building will have a visible storage area that showcases a more accessible experience of stored museum items. Visitors will also be able to see how the museum cares for and stores objects, will allow them to search the database, and open drawers in an effort to engage with and learn about art in a more personal, explorative way.