University of California San Diego | Epstein Family Amphitheater

UCSD’s Pepper Canyon creates a grand mobility hub for the university and new spaces for its students. Introba provided consulting services on all of the Pepper Canyon projects, including the largest feature, the new 2,850-seat Epstein Family amphitheater.

The amphitheater includes a performance stage, grab-n-go ticketing booth, tiered landscape and hardscape seat walls under canopies, and restroom facilities. The Back of House building supporting the performance stage houses the projection, audio, and AV equipment, along with a green room and dressing rooms for performers and support space for operations staff. The restroom facilities serving the amphitheater were built into the hill below the lawn seating area to provide functionality without detracting from the open space. The nearby Visual Arts Buildings were improved by murals on their east facades and are surrounded by outdoor classrooms and extended restaurant patio areas.

These projects incorporated many public art features, including a 10,000sf (26’ wide by 375’ long) finished concrete walkway. The walkway was inlaid with text by UCSD scholars, researchers, and artists and leads to the new light rail (LFT) station built at the south entrance to the campus. Below the light rail tracks, twenty-two (22) swings were hung as an interactive art installation.

Lastly, the existing Warren Field House near the new LRT Station was demolished and replaced with a new facility. The new building is roughly 2,000sf and includes restroom facilities and lockers.

Image Credit: Safdie Rabines Architects