A topping out ceremony held last week marked the completion of vertical construction for the Colburn School's $335-million expansion is taking shape in Downtown Los Angeles.

The Colburn Center, now taking shape on 2nd Street between Olive and Hill Streets, will include a 1,000-seat concert hall named for the project's primary donors, Terri and Jerry Kohl, as well as a smaller 100-seat theater and multiple studios for instruction and rehearsal.

Topping out ceremony for the Colburn CenterGary Leonard

Frank Gehry is designing the complex, which will incorporate a rooftop garden and a publicly-accessible garden accessible from Hill Street. Those spaces will double as outdoor venues for performances, receptions, and other types of events.

Under construction since 2024, the Colburn Center is on track to open to the public in 2027. Per a news release from McCarthy Building Companies, the construction to date has involved 535 workers, more than 105,000 man hours, 12,830 cubic yards of concrete, and nearly 3.9 million pounds of rebar.

Topping out ceremony for the Colburn CenterGary Leonard

“This is not only a wonderful project for our students and community, it is part of really bringing vitality and life back to Downtown L.A," said Colburn president and chief executive officer Sel Kardan in a news release. "This is a place which will welcome everybody from across L.A.: our students, to perform, to learn, to rehearse; audiences from all over this great region; and artists from all around the world and right here in Los Angeles.”

The project, which is taking shape just north of the Colburn's existing home on Grand Avenue, is the latest in a string of additions to the Bunker Hill area within the past decade, including Grand Park, the Emerson apartment tower, The Broad contemporary art museum, and the new Conrad hotel and Grand by Gehry Residences across Olive. It will be joined in the near future by a $100-million expansion of The Broad, which broke ground in April.

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