The historic Robert Frost Auditorium in Culver City, CA completed a major renovation in 2018. The 1,200-seat venue is the home to Culver City High School’s theatre troupe, and also houses a re-designed classroom, black box theatre, scene shop, and dressing rooms.

The visually striking 4” thick, 210’ span of concrete comprising the folded-plate roof survived the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, and remains an important structural component of the auditorium which is viewed as a prime example of mid-century modern design. On steroids. Futuristic for its time, it has been featured in the films Gattaca and Woody Allen’s Sleeper. Culver City Mayor Thomas Small called the Frost, “daring, modern, historic and innovative, all at the same time. The Robert Frost auditorium is the quintessence of Culver City, a jewel in the crown of our architectural heritage.”

The renovation, for the first time, brought the space into the 21st Century with air conditioning (via a highly novel means of distribution that at once quieted the system and provided sound absorption), as well as much-improved theatrical lighting and audio, enabled by mitigation of its seriously excessive reverberation.

The Robert Frost Auditorium was recognized with the 2020 California Preservation Foundation Design Award for Rehabilitation.

MCH provided full-scope acoustical consulting.

Architect: Hodgetts+Fung

PERFORMING ARTS