Buddy Holly Hall Project Team lauded by Glass Magazine

Category: Architecture

Written By: Valerie Edgren

Date: January 19, 2022

Buddy Holly Hall Project Team lauded by Glass Magazine cover image

Glass Magazine has given the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences its Best Project Team award.

Buddy Holly Hall is the culmination of a triple decade of a community’s dreaming come true, sparking instant love like Holly's hit “Peggy Sue.” Private donors rallied, and a carefully chosen team was chosen to bring it and the surrounding downtown area to life. Parkhill was part of that team.

Nominating Company: YKK AP America

  • Jumbo glass
  • Window wall, curtain wall, thermal entrances, sloped glazing
  • LEED Silver target

Winning team

  • Metal systems manufacturer: YKK AP America Inc.
  • Glazing contractor: Texas Industrial Glass
  • Glass fabricator: Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope
  • Additional façade manufacturer: Fiblast Alabama
  • Façade consultant: Curtainwall Design Consulting
  • Architects: Parkhill, MWM Architects, Diamond Schmitt Architects
  • General contractor: Lee Lewis Construction Inc.
  • Owner: Lubbock Entertainment Performing Arts Association


From Glass Magazine

By Norah Dick

The Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences is Lubbock, Texas’s newest landmark. The 220,000-square-foot campus includes a main theater, studio theater and pre-professional ballet academy. The ambitious project required careful coordination and cooperation for the YKK AP America project team, which manufactured and supplied the metal systems. “This project showed firsthand the crucial nature of a collaborative, valued relationship ― and the success that comes from it,” says Steve Schohan, marketing and communications manager, YKK AP America.

The project’s scope was extensive, says Schohan, with a combination of oversized glass, sloped glazing, curtain wall, window wall, multiple sets of all-glass entrance doors, acrylic panels, and custom box office framing and glazing. During the project’s preliminary stages, YKK AP was intricately involved in the process, he says. This played a big role in enabling the entire team ― from manufacturer to glazing contractor and architect ― to stay ahead of the curve in terms of product selection and lead times, says Schohan.

The team faced a range of challenges, including the fact that the project was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, the partners were able to stay on the tight schedule, Schohan says.

Judges’ comments

“The Buddy Holly Hall and projects similar to these always present challenges in balancing the demanding artistic requirements, building performance and technological requirements. ... And yet, despite these challenges, having the project team complete the project within the timeline was indeed no small feat!” —Glass Magazine Awards judge, William Green market team member, Technoform


“I’m impressed with the planning necessary for material scheduling and handling to meet the timelines of this unique design both inside and out.” —Glass Magazine Awards judge, Mary Avery, vice president of marketing, Tubelite


“Elegant design and execution.” —Glass Magazine Awards judge David Dumas, AIA, Associate Principal, Beck Group