Enhancing an iconic New York City institution on the Museum Mile

Designing a theatre that honors tradition and optimal acoustic environments

Our team was tasked with designing a new underground performance hall. The new Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium features a dramatic use of curvature, which draws on the designs of renowned and historic music salons, music spaces in the great palaces of Europe, and recital halls of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

With Arup’s SoundLab, our experts utilized a full 3D virtual model to optimize the shape, volume, and materials of the space to achieve impressive sound for unamplified music and speech. Working amidst spatial constraints, we presented a range of creative concepts to develop an original orientation and geometry that would fully capture the space’s potential to present, record, and livestream chamber music, speech, and art-related film and media.

Furthermore, we designed a seating arrangement with optimal sightlines throughout, comprehensive production and stage lighting design for all event types, and assistive listening capabilities integrated into the spaces.

Our team also tailored the acoustic environments in the museum’s new building to complement the art and the existing building. We upgraded the AV infrastructure and systems to enable building-wide connectivity and connection of multiple spaces to support conferences, livestreaming, and other large programming as needed. 

Engineering a modern facade with a historic look

Our building envelope consultants provided their expertise to develop new limestone facades for the Frick Art Research Library (FARL), the music room expansions, and the south bridge. Our team also developed new glazed facades for the reception hall expansion and a new glazed link between FARL and the music building.

Furthermore, we designed new skylights across the galleries and Garden Court, featuring a new system and glazing design that manages how much daylight gets into the gallery spaces. The glass design diffuses daylight and blocks ultraviolet radiation both to optimize visitor experience and viewing while meeting conservation criteria for the artwork. The skylight system and glazing also improve the thermal and structural performance of the building envelope, conserving energy while providing condensation and moisture protection for the galleries.

To preserve a classic and consistent look amidst all these changes, our team incorporated bronze punch windows for the new building expansions, mimicking the masonry of the adjacent mansion building. We detailed the window walls with bronze features that will age gracefully over time. Additionally, the venetian blinds along the exterior can be controlled remotely and deployed to provide shade for visitors. Our experts also built in resilience and flexibility into the design, ensuring the blinds can be retracted behind stone spandrels during high wind events and removed for maintenance.  

Header image © Joseph Coscia Jr.