Snøhetta has revealed renderings for its new expansion and modernization of the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College.

The old facility known commonly as the Hop will be upgraded with a new state-of-the-art broadcast facility, improved accessibility, and connections to the surrounding Hanover Inn and Hood Museum of Art all while preserving the character of its original 1962 design from revered Lincoln Center architect Wallace K. Harrison.

The renewed Hop will serve as a welcoming gathering spot that connects the town of Hanover with the campus’ central Green. Inspired by the distant White Mountain landscape, the design features an exterior plaza that opens into a new lobby space dubbed the Forum. 

A central staircase connects the ground-level social condenser to the building’s new 150-seat recital hall and performance laboratory on the second floor, with views of Baker Library and the surrounding quad courtesy of tapered arch-framed windows that were created using an innovative system of curved mullions.

Below the forum sits a submerged new dedicated dance studio with even further visual connections between the artists and natural scenery being established thanks to north-facing clerestory windows. Snøhetta will also refurbish the original 900-seat Spaulding Auditorium in addition to restoring the popular Top of the Hop student area. 

“The voices of an ensemble, the production team for a dance video, and audiences themselves all represent the creative potential of diverse participation,” Snøhetta co-founder Craig Dykers said of the project’s immersive scope in a project announcement. “We are excited to expand the Hop's pioneering legacy as a venue for emerging forms of artistic collaboration and creative expression by bringing new rehearsal and production spaces to the building, ensuring continued support for a variety of perspectives and ways of making.” 

Plans are for construction to begin at the end of the year. Once completed in 2025, the Hop redesign will become the important final piece in a trio of cultural projects that includes TWBTA's 2019 Hood Museum renovation and Machado Silvetti’s Black Family Visual Arts Center from 2012.