KPMB unveils David Geffen School of Drama building at Yale University

KPMB has released renderings for the new Dramatic Arts Building at Yale University, which will become the first consolidated home for the David Geffen School of Drama since its founding in 1924. The 207,000-square-foot, seven-storey structure will host Yale Repertory Theater performances and accommodate undergraduate theatre, dance, and performance studies courses alongside the School of Drama's MFA program. Designed by KPMB founding partner Marianne McKenna, the building features a red steel circulation artery called Theater Street, a 400-seat reconfigurable theatre, a 100-seat studio theatre, a rigging lab, and a sound design studio. The facade uses limestone panels with alternating transparency to reference the visible and invisible work of faculty. A ground-floor café opens onto Crown and York Streets. The project replaces Yale's current disparate theatre spaces and aims to engage the New Haven community. KPMB's design follows other Ivy League performing arts expansions, including Snøhetta's Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth and REX's Lindemann Performing Arts Center at Brown University.