Theater in the Round
Renovation of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, Calif.
by Marc Dodson, associate editor
After more than 40 years, the distinctive, circular Mark Taper Forum was due for a renovation. Centrally located in downtown Los Angeles, the Music Center is home to four internationally acclaimed resident companies: The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Center Theatre Group, LA Opera, and Los Angeles Master Chorale. The Music Center is comprised of four venues; Walt Disney Concert Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, and Mark Taper Forum, as well as outdoor theaters, plazas, and gardens.
The Music Center Campus, designed by architect Welton Beckett was dedicated September 27, 1964 and opened December 6, 1964 as a public/private not-for-profit partnership with the County of Los Angeles which owns the facility and contracts the Music Center to operate the campus. The Center was championed by Dorothy Buffum-Chandler named by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in April 1955 to head a citizen's committee to 
build a permanent home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; she expanded the goal to include a performing arts center.
Los Angeles County provided the site and raised the remaining $14 million using mortgage revenue bonds. Construction on the original complex began March 12, 1962 and was completed April 1967. The original complex was comprised of three venues: the 3,197-seat Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the 750-seat Mark Taper Forum, and Ahmanson Theatre offering flexible seating for 1,600 to 2,007, following the 1994 redesign by Ellerbeo Becket Architects.
On October 23, 2003 the Music Center opened the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, expanding the campus to 11 acres. The 2,265-seat Concert Hall is home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Walt Disney Concert Hall includes the 266-seat Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater and outdoor program areas including the W.M. Keck Foundation Children's Amphitheatre seating 250-300 and the Nadine and Ed Carson Amphitheatre seating 120. The total cost for Walt Disney Concert Hall was $286 million.
The renovation of the Mark Taper Forum began in July 2007, following the final performance of Center Theatre Group’s 2006-2007 season, and continues through mid-2008. According to Music Center President Stephen D. Rountree, "The Music Center is excited about what this will mean for the arts in downtown Los Angeles, and in particular for Center Theatre Group."
"A $5 million lead gift for the project has been given by an anonymous donor," he continued. "This financial leadership for the project, gave our board the confidence to move ahead and was crucial to all the pieces coming together."
Rountree continued, "The total project cost will be $30 million. To date, the Music Center has secured over $22 million. The additional sources of support include approximately $12 million of facility improvement reserves, and $4.9 million from the County of Los Angeles. The balance of the cost will come from private donors and foundation grants that are expected over the next few years. The Music Center intends to utilize tax-exempt financing to provide cash flow funding for the project."
The renovation will include much-needed updating of its technical capabilities and audience amenities. Additionally, the round theater will receive a new roof. The facility has had several roofs during its lifetime; the most recent will be replaced 
with a Malarkey Roofing system. Stout Roofing, Downey, Calif. was chosen for the roofing project.
The roof consists of a large dome area and a flat equipment section. The roof deck is structural concrete covered with lightweight insulating concrete. Removal of the old insulation and single-ply membrane brought the roof down to the lightweight insulating concrete. The dome was then covered with 2” of Rmax isocyanurate, which was mechanically fastened into the structural concrete with 10" fasteners. Malarkey #100 Eshavent Thermally Adhering Venting base sheet was installed over the iso. This was followed by a Malarkey #160 smooth torch-applied APP, followed by Malarkey #161 granular APP torch-applied.
After the installation of all the roof-mounted equipment, the system was coated with white acrylic coating to meet CRRC Title 24 part 6. The equipment area has the same system except the insulation is a tapered perlite system with two #515 base sheets mopped in place prior to the installation of the roofing membranes. The total roof area is 200 squares.
Andy Pockock, regional sales manager for Malarkey, states, “Planning was essential as the complex was basically gutted and rebuilt. Roofing was just one part of the process and had to be synchronized with all the other work. This coordination fell upon Greg Caringella of Stout Roofing. The access to the building was very difficult, as there is a decorative pond area all the way around the building and the theater is built on top of the parking structure, making loading and unloading very difficult. All the equipment on the roof was not only replaced but the entire air-handling delivery system was redesigned.”
The renovation will first be evident to the observer from the neo-classic exterior of the Welton Becket-designed building which will be cleaned, returning the Taper's 378-foot pre-cast concrete mural relief to its original elegance. The renovation continues in the theatre's lobby, where improvements will more than double the size of the space by relocating the restrooms to a spacious downstairs lounge. The lobby bar will be more accommodating while the lobby's signature abalone shell wall will be preserved with new lighting to showcase the natural beauty of the rare material. In addition, the flooring will be decorative terrazzo and the lobby ceiling will be raised and lit in a radial grid pattern, creating a shimmering and dramatic entry to the theatre.
"When you work in the theatre you are generally focused on doing the best possible work you can with selecting and producing the shows and then finding the audiences," said Rountree. "But it was becoming increasingly clear to Center Theatre Group that the theatre itself, that beautiful and unique Mark Taper Forum, needed our focus, too. These renovations will make the theatre so much better, for our audiences and our artists and our backstage crew. We are grateful to the Music Center, the County, and our donors for helping us make all these changes possible." •••
Visit the Malarky website: www.malarkyroofing.com
