Performing Arts Center
An 1,800-seat concert hall floats inside its own shell, so the only sound in the room is the music.
- Owner
- Confidential
- Location
- U.S.
- Market
- Cultural & Performing Arts
- Delivery
- CM at-risk
- Scale
- 1,800 seats
- Completed
- 2025
A concert hall tuned to the decibel, with a box-in-box structure that keeps the river traffic outside.
The site sits beside a working river, with barge horns and engine noise that carry a long way over water. The acoustician called for a box-in-box structure, a concert hall resting on isolation bearings inside an outer building, with no rigid connection between the two. One stray bolt, conduit or pipe hanger bridging the gap would carry noise straight into the room.
The approach.
- 01
Mockups before the real thing
Isolation bearings and wall assemblies were mocked up and tested early, so crews knew the details before they reached the hall.
- 02
The gap was guarded
Every penetration between inner box and outer shell used a flexible connection, and each one was inspected and logged.
- 03
Quiet air
Large, slow-moving ductwork and an under-seat supply plenum keep the mechanical system below the hall’s noise target.
- 04
Measured, not assumed
Background noise was measured in the empty hall and tuned with the acoustician before the first rehearsal.
The outcome.
“You cannot fix acoustics with paint. It had to be right in the steel, the concrete and every hanger in between.”
Superintendent, MarkWester
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