David Chipperfield Architects has revealed renderings of their winning design for a music center in Edinburgh, Scotland. The IMPACT center will be the city’s “first dedicated new space for music and the performing arts in 100 years”, and it will be home to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. It will be exactly located behind St. Andrews Square in the New Town.
Courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects and IMPACT
The renderings, which were unveiled during a public exhibition and community consultation event, feature a 1,000-seat auditorium as well as a 200-seat rehearsal studio. Additionally, the center will include educational facilities and a public lobby. It will host all kinds of musical performances in addition to the Music Center Festival which takes place in August and is considered to be the world’s largest art festival.
“We are very excited to be working on the new music venue in a city renowned around the world for its arts and culture,” said Chipperfield. “The setting, within the context of Edinburgh’s historic New Town, is also both stimulating and challenging.”
“The new music venue will not only provide a modern performance space for Edinburgh but also create a new public place in this somewhat hidden corner of the city,” he added.
The English architecture firm won the competition for the project, proposed by the International Music and Performing Arts Charitable Trust (IMPACT), last year. Their design was selected between shortlisted entries by Adjaye Associates, Allies and Morrison, KPMB Architect, and others.
David Chipperfield Architects will be co-working with local firm Reiach and Hall to execute the project which is scheduled to open in 2020. They will also collaborate with Nagata Acoustics for the enhancement of the performance halls.
“This is an exciting stage in the creation of a vibrant new home for all kinds of music and performance in Edinburgh. We have set the bar high for our design team, asking them to produce a truly modern venue with exceptional acoustics, which also embraces and complements the heritage that surrounds it,” said Sir Ewan Brown, the Chairman of IMPACT.
“This is a building being designed from the inside out, with at its heart, a hall offering world-class acoustics for performers and audiences. The design team has concentrated on getting this right, and we are now developing the look of this truly exceptional building and how it will sympathetically enhance its hidden location.”
