ROOTS

SINFONIA VARSOVIA CONCERT HALL WARSAW

XP& Architecture in collaboration with CK Architecture

The relocation of the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra to the site of the former Veterinarian Institute inPraga Poludnie provides a unique chance to create a strong and powerful cultural center with local,regional and international significance. The site will become a center for music where everyone will be able to become acquainted with and enjoy classical music and other art forms. It will be a true democratic center for music and the arts.

The Concept:

1. The new Concert Hall will form a visible icon for music and arts within the Praga Podulnie

district as well as for the entire city of Warsaw. The widespread roof of the new Concert Hall

building vaguely resembles an abstracted tree beneath whose branches music and arts are

celebrated and developed. The tree symbolizes the new center with its roots in the past and its

branches that point and project new possibilities into the future. This dramatic roof overhang

will be clearly visible from Grochowska Street, thus marking the center as an important

landmark in the district and the city.

2. The new Center has been designed as a fully democratic facility. The goal of the design is to

make classical music and the arts accessible to everyone regardless of income or education

levels. To this end, the facility has been conceived as open and accessible as possible featuring

multiple entrance points around the property and a 360 degree glazed lobby surrounding the

concert hall.

3. All access points to the concert hall are at ground level and all visitors enter the hall at lobby

level. Once inside they find themselves at mid level of the 1800 seat vineyard shaped auditorium

with equal distances to front and back seats. This arrangement is designed to convey the

impression of equality to the audience and to prevent elitist attitude among visitors.

4. The relationship between “Front of House” and “Back of House” of the concert hall and the large

orchestra rehearsal room is turned “vertical” instead of “horizontal” as in most traditional concert

facilities: visitors and performers are entering the concert hall and the large orchestra rehearsal

room at different floor levels. The ground floor of the building is completely open to the

outside and fully dedicated to the public while the levels beneath the ground floor comprise

stage access, dressing rooms, storage and loading facilities. This way, the public gets to enjoy

the entire floor around the concert hall while performers and staff operate on two entire

unimpeded floor plates laid out in a rational and efficient fashion.

5. The roof of the new concert hall building frames the existing buildings and forms a wonderful

backdrop for the vegetation on site and the adjacent park. It becomes a powerful icon visible

from all sides, the adjacent streets and the park. With the roof’s transparent skin, the visitors are

constantly connected to the surrounding buildings and vegetation. Its cantilever breaks the

axial arrangement at roof level, creates an inviting movement towards the public park in the

East and provides a powerful entrance canopy for the concert hall lobby.

Urban Design Considerations:

The five historic buildings as well as the green square to the North of the main building and the

historic gate will be fully renovated and integrated into the new Center. All other buildings will be

demolished.

In correspondence with the noise measurements provided in the competition brief as well as the

sizeable space requirements for the new Concert Hall, the area to the North of the green square and

between the existing buildings B and C is deemed most suitable for the new Concert Hall building.

The new Concert Hall is conceived as a free standing building with below grade connections with

buildings B and C. Visitor drop-off, access to underground parking and access to the loading facility

are arranged along Terespolska Street.

The new Concert Hall building respects the axis-based composition of the historic buildings. It is

situated right on the central axis of the property to the North of the main building between

buildings B and C. Despite being placed on the property axis, the roof of the concert hall extends

asymmetrically to the East over building C. Its cantilever breaks the axial arrangement at roof level,

creates an inviting movement towards the public park in the East and provides a powerful entrance

canopy for the concert hall lobby.

Distribution of Activities:

Public Areas: (Front of House)

All public arrival and lobby areas are grouped at the fully glazed lobby around the concert

hall. The concert hall is sunk into the ground in a manner that allows the stage level to be

located at the first basement level, just below the public lobby. Retail stores are located right

off Perispolka Street at the drop-off in order to allow business hours to be independent from

the opening hours of the remainder of the center. The restaurant is placed in the historic

building B at ground level while VIP rooms and hospitality occupy the upper level of the same

building. The Café has been located in building E at the corner of Grochowska Street and

Terespolska Street in order to allow for maximum public exposure. Building D could contain a

music library and small exhibition spaces featuring Polish composers throughout the ages.

Performers and Staff Areas: (Back of House)

All facilities related to the stage, performers, orchestra and its functionality are located at the

two basement buildings of the Concert Hall building. From there, underground walkways

connect to buildings B and C. Thus the majority of the rehearsal rooms that are placed in

building C are directly connected to the underground levels of the concert hall building.

Finally, the management and administration of the facility are situated in the main historic

building right on axis with the concert hall.

The Hall:

In adherence to the overall theme of a fully democratic facility the design features a “vineyard”

concert hall scheme for 1800 seats.

The 1,800 seat concert hall will provide excellent acoustic conditions for all kinds of music and

for medium size orchestras as well as large symphony orchestras. In addition, the vineyard

scheme features overall closer distances between spectators and performers which adds to

the intimacy of the hall.

Acoustic Description of the Concert Hall:

Vineyard Hall Characteristics:

The main representative features of the vineyard hall are a unique seating layout and sound

image. In the vineyard hall, because seats are arranged to surround the stage, the audience

can experience not only the performance, but also the architectural design of the hall from

many different perspectives. Also, the sound image composed by a vineyard hall design can

make you feel as if you were surrounded by sound.

Acoustical Design Features of Vineyard Halls:

In vineyard style halls, it is important to design all reflective surfaces to deliver sound reflections

to audience effectively. The ceiling shape and height is carefully determined so that

effective sound reflections are distributed evenly over the entire audience area. Terrace walls

are designed among the seating. The locations, height and tilt angle of these walls are studied

to provide effective early sound reflections to the audiences. For stage acoustics, to ensure

good musician communications, the canopy is set at a height of approximately 14 to 16m.

Also, sound reflections from side balcony soffits support stage acoustics. These reflective

surfaces require a large mass. Materials weighing minimum of 60 kg/m^2 are required for the

ceiling and walls for a good low frequency response.

The detailed surface shape and finish are also important. Diffusive shapes of various sizes are

introduced on the reflective surfaces. The role of these diffusers differ depending on the size

and the location, however there are two major roles. Smaller diffusers scatter mid-to-high

frequency sound and, as a result, bring a softer sound image. Larger diffusers are introduced

at concave areas to prevent sound focusing and detrimental echoes. For acoustic variability,

an absorptive material such as a curtain is used to optimize the reverberation time. With this

reverberation time adjustment, various types of performances are possible in the concert hall.

Also, as a variable stage environment, variable acoustic curtains at rear of the stage are

provided.

“Na lipę”

Gościu, siądź pod mym liściem, a odpoczni sobie!

Nie dójdzie cię tu słońce, przyrzekam ja tobie,

Choć się nawysszej wzbije, a proste promienie

Ściągną pod swoje drzewa rozstrzelane cienie.

Tu zawżdy chłodne wiatry z pola zawiewają,

Tu słowicy, tu szpacy wdzięcznie narzekają.

Z mego wonnego kwiatu pracowite pszczoły

Biorą miód, który potym szlachci pańskie stoły.

A ja swym cichym szeptem sprawić umiem snadnie,

Że człowiekowi łacno słodki sen przypadnie.

Jabłek wprawdzie nie rodzę, lecz mię pan tak kładzie

Jako szczep napłodniejszy w hesperyskim sadzie.

Jan Kochanowski

The new Concert Hall will form a visible icon for music and arts within the Praga Podulnie