Named in recognition of its neighborhood, the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston is better known as MATCH. The nonprofit group was formed expressly to create new space where artists around Houston could come together to collaborate and present their work. The MATCH facility is custom designed with input from over 40 arts groups. The resulting structure contains four performance venues referred to as MATCH boxes located in two buildings - North and South - connected by a sweeping breezeway to the plaza. MATCH supports dance, music, theatre, visual art, film, performance art, and others in the new facility.
Each "box" is slightly different. MATCH Box 1, a flexible theatre with seating for 100 in the round, has white walls that allow it to easily serve as an art gallery. Blackout curtains help return it to a performance space. MATCH Box 2 is an end-stage dance theatre with a permanent resilient dance floor and seating for 159. MATCH Box 3 can seat about 140 and is a more traditional black box theatre. MATCH Box 4, an end stage proscenium space with seating for 329, has catwalks for theatrical support and adjustable acoustic curtains. Boxes 1 through 3 feature pipe grids for overhead support.
The facility includes dressing rooms for each of the venues, a box office, an outdoor cafe. The South building (connected by breezeway and catwalk) includes rehearsal space, an art gallery, and office space. There is also an outdoor, covered performance space at the grand stair in the breezeway.
Schuler Shook designed the lighting for all public spaces including the MATCH boxes, lobbies, the breezeway, offices, art gallery, and rehearsal spaces. A simple palette of fixture types was used throughout to blend with and emphasize the architecture.
Schuler Shook worked with Lake Flato and Studio Red on program confirmation, spatial planning, equipment design, and architectural lighting design. Boxes 1-3 have portable dimming and power for ultimate flexibility, while Box 4 is a more traditional centralized power and dimming system.
All four spaces include curtain and track, and Schuler Shook developed the initial portable platform package. Box 4 includes a system of tension wire catwalks over the stage to allow easy access to these components while maintaining flexibility. Some rope rigging is utilized in this room for moving linesets, and there is infrastructure for future rigging mechanization.