TPAC | Tennessee Performing Arts Center | BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group

The new Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) - designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and William Rawn Associates (WRA) with HASTINGS Architecture - extends the vibrancy of downtown Nashville across the Cumberland River, emerging as a cultural anchor for the city's reenergized East Bank. Designed to welcome the community from all sides, with the performance venues clustered at its core, the new TPAC supports a range of artistic programming while building upon Nashville’s rich legacy in the arts. Situated on a waterfront site neighboring Cumberland Park and the Tennessee Titans’ Nissan Stadium, the new TPAC includes four performance spaces - the multi-function Grand Broadway theater; a dance and opera hall; a flexible black box theater; and an intimate cabaret space - as well as rehearsal studios and classrooms. As TPAC transitions from its current location downtown, the 307,000-sq-ft center will serve as the new home of the Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Repertory Theatre while creating venues for traveling Broadway shows, dance performances, and community events.

TPAC’s reflective metal facade, composed of an array of aluminum tubes, creates a dynamic, sculptural volume that looks different from every vantage point in the city. Taking cues from an undulating theater curtain, the arches on the exterior lift to reveal the activity within.

Upon arrival, guests are welcomed by a light-filled atrium that draws the energy of the city inside. Two lobbies connect the performance spaces: the main lobby at street-level with views of the river and proposed waterfront park, and an elevated lobby fronting the landmark John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge. A grand staircase, central lounge, and cascading concrete slabs invite patrons to congregate before, after, and in between performances – reinforcing TPAC’s role as a social gathering place within Nashville. Within the Broadway Theater, floating wood-clad ‘trays’ organize the seating into intimate clusters, each staggered in height for optimized sightlines. The opera and dance hall is designed to enhance the views of the dancers’ feet, while the balconies reinforce a visual continuity with the stage. The Black Box Theater places the audience directly in the performance, eliminating the proscenium ‘picture frame’ that traditionally outlines the stage and allowing for different seating configurations tailored to each production. The Cabaret features a stage that extends into the audience, creating an intimate atmosphere complemented by banquet-style seating.

A transparent rehearsal space offers visitors a glimpse behind the scenes, while a sensory room offers a calming environment during performances. Crowning the building, a roof terrace features sweeping views of Broadway, the Cumberland River, and the Nashville skyline.

Outdoor staircases connect TPAC to the river, integrating the center into Nashville’s new East Bank district and enhancing connectivity with the city beyond. Landscape design by OLIN surrounds the building with diverse plant life and pockets for public outdoor performances, gathering spaces, and play groves.

TPAC will join BIG’s growing portfolio of cultural projects, including the Hamburg State Opera, the Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art in China, and the VLTAVA Philharmonic in Prague. Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with a projected opening in 2030.

PROJECT FACTS
Size: 307,000 sq ft
Location: Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Client: Tennessee Performing Arts Center
Collaborators: William Rawn Associates, HASTINGS Architecture, Apeiro Design, TYLin, Altieri, Jaffe Holden, Kimley-Horn, Front, Thornton Tomasetti, VDA, Code Consultants, Inc., Tillotson Design Associates, Inman Foodservices Group, OLIN, L'Observatoire International, Atelier Ten, Venue Consulting

BIG TEAM
Partners-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen, Beat Schenk
Project Manager: Linus Saavedra
Project Designer: Kristian Hindsberg
Technical Lead: Julie Kaufman
Team: Ana Loayza, Cheng Zhong, Chia-Yu Liu, Dylan Hames, Hector Romero, Jan Leenknegt, Jialin Yuan, Marc Hargreaves, Margaret Tyrpa, Pooja Annamaneni, Sung-hwan Um, Tara Abedinitafreshi, Vi Madrazo, Ben Caldwell, San Yoon, Jihoon Kim, Joanne Zheng, Jeff Tao, Jaeho Park, Siqi Zhang, Ruijing Sun, Alvaro Velosa, Douglass Alligood, Ryan Henriksen, Ahmad Tabbakh, Hudson Parris, Quentin Wiesmath, Paul Heberle, Atousa Esmaeili, Mana Ikebe, Abdallah Kamel, Xiaoqi Zhan, Gavin Laughland

WRA TEAM
Partners-in-Charge: Cliff Gayley, Kevin Bergeron
Project Manager: Lauren Perry
Team: Amir Zarei, Juno Zhu, Molly Bennett, Dan Bielenin, Evan Warder, Henry Chung, Brian Putnam, Andy Jonic, Josué Pérez Campos, Liz Bondaryk, Ali Truwit, Colleen DeMatta, Julia Solecki