The Perelman
Performing Arts Center
(PAC NYC)
New York, NY

135,000 SF • 12,542 SQ M • WITH REX

A performing arts center was a key component of the master plan to rebuild the World Trade Center site following the attacks on September 11, 2001. Located adjacent to the new Transit Hub, The Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) will create approximately 135,000 sf of space for theater, dance, music, film, and opera in Lower Manhattan at the north end of the World Trade Center site, adjacent to One World Trade Center, the Oculus Transportation Hub, and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. PAC NYC will further animate Lower Manhattan and become an anchor for the arts community. The exterior form of PAC NYC is an internally-illuminated cube, supported on a stone base. Its simple massing is a counterpoint to the diverse forms of the site’s redevelopment.

PAC NYC is designed to be highly adaptable, capable of being reconfigured into multiple theaters of different scales. These range in layout and capacity from a 99-seat intimate theater, to a 472-seat theater in-the-round, and a raked 737-seat, two-balcony, end thrust theater. These transformations utilize a trap equipped with removable platforms and seating lifts, four movable seating towers, vertically-retractable guillotine doors, and demountable balconies. When all the theaters are combined into one large venue, PAC can accommodate up to 1,200 people.

Supporting the theaters, PAC NYC has a rehearsal room that epitomizes the flexibility inherent to the facility. It is truly a multi-purpose space — outfitted to function as a performance space, acoustically separated to function as a fourth venue, and located to function as a social gathering / food and beverage space for performance intermissions. The rehearsal room allows PAC NYC’s patrons to truly see behind the curtain at the inner workings of a modern performing arts center.

The lobby has been developed to be open and welcoming. It is spatially organized around a prominent stage platform, provided to encourage spontaneous, impromptu performances by patrons and the community.

PAC NYC is a technically-sophisticated and highly transformable facility. Challenges of the project included the need for movable primary building system components, acoustic and vibration isolation, highly prescriptive protective design and life safety requirements, and the accommodation of third-party MEP systems. Davis Brody Bond actively led the process to find solutions to these challenges with the Owner, Theater Consultants, and the Port Authority of NY and NJ, which has regulatory control of the site.