Orange County, CA-based general contractor R.D. Olson Construction has unveiled the Sandi Simon Center for Dance at Chapman University in Orange, CA. The $16.8 million project involved the adaptive reuse of the historic Villa Park Orchards packing house, originally built in 1918.

“It was such a great opportunity to work on this next-generation dance facility,” said R.D. Olson president, Bill Wilhelm. “This will be a best-in-class facility for a best-in-class dance program.”

Scheduled to open in time for the spring 2023 semester, the 39,000-square-foot facility includes two distinct levels, high ceilings and a mezzanine. The building features four studios, a performance studio, classrooms and a student lounge.

The R.D. Olson team cut out the floor of the existing structure to build the new central studio with special “sprung floors” for the dancers. The firm then creatively refinished the 100-year-old tongue-and-groove floor and used it to make a decorative wall in the common lobby.

Image courtesy of Martin King