NDSU challey hall school of music
Location: North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota
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The NDSU School of Music has seen remarkable growth in recent years, with increasing student enrollment driving the need for expanded and upgraded facilities. To support this growth and elevate both instruction and performance, Foss Architecture + Interiors designed a comprehensive $8 million renovation and 9,700 sq. ft. addition to the existing 96,000 sq. ft. Reineke Fine Arts Center, originally designed by Foss in the late 1970s. Renamed the Challey Hall School of Music, the project introduces new teaching studios for faculty, adjunct instructors, and graduate students, along with a 1,000 sq. ft. rehearsal hall, updated practice rooms, and expanded storage and locker areas. A state-of-the-art recording facility supports educational and performance needs, reflecting the program’s growing focus on professional-level production. Renovations to existing spaces enhance classrooms and performance areas while improving accessibility, acoustics, and circulation.
The design positions Challey Hall as a hub for students, faculty, and patrons attending Festival Concert Hall. A new terracotta rainscreen façade with uplighting highlights the building’s presence along 12th Avenue, a key gateway to campus. The façade’s interplay of black and gray panels introduces subtle visual rhythms, evoking piano keys or the tracks of an audio recording, connecting the exterior to the music created inside. The building not only meets the program’s functional needs but also embodies the creativity, energy, and harmony of the students it serves.
