Tennessee Performing Arts Center

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.

“This new center represents the future of the performing arts in Nashville and across our state. For more than four decades, TPAC has brought world-class performances and transformative arts education programs to Tennesseans. Our new home will allow us to welcome more audiences, support more artists, and expand the impact of the performing arts in communities across Tennessee.” – Jennifer Turner, President & CEO, TPAC

“The new home for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center is designed like an urban and cultural connection – between the east and west bank of the Cumberland River, between the old and the new Nashville, and between all of the performing arts. Visually, it bookends Broadway as a beacon from across the river, drawing the cultural life of downtown across to the East Bank. Designed to be welcoming on all sides, the center is accessible from above and below the bridge, making the lobby a cascading public space for the daily life of the neighborhood. The façade is composed of aluminum tubes bundled like organ pipes or steel chimes, undulating from vertical to horizontal to provide openings and canopies for the audience and performers passing through. The result is like a flowing public pavilion in the park that, as the new home for TPAC, provides the inclusive and inviting character that its program and performances deserve.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG

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.

“At the heart of TPAC’s new home, four venues will create uniquely memorable theatrical experiences, celebrating the ‘vibrancy of theater in Music City.’ Each venue expresses its own personality while heightening audience experience and connection – an intimacy between performer and audience and a sense community among audiences of all ages.” – Cliff Gayley, Design Principal, WRA

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.

“While typical performing arts centers have a clearly defined front and back, the site conditions of TPAC offer a unique opportunity to hide the back-of-house under the bridge, allowing the public space to surround the building on all sides. The dual entrances and wrap-around lobbies activate the entire perimeter – from ground level to bridge level – connecting audiences to the venue’s surroundings.

The halls are designed to accommodate a range of performances, with cascading mezzanines that connect the orchestra level to the balcony levels above. The central lobby will continuously pulse with energy, uniting patrons from different performances before and after each show.” – Thomas Christoffersen, Partner, BIG

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.