A grand top-lit atrium
forms an entrance to concerts, recitals and classrooms at this music school in
Manchester by local architects Stephenson: ISA Studio. As part of Chetham's School of Music,
the new building by Stephenson:
ISA Studio is
constructed alongside the school's existing medieval quadrangle to provide it
with a 350-seat concert hall and a 100-seat recital hall, as well as additional
classrooms and practice rooms. The foyer
occupies a triangular triple-height space at the centre of the building. Six
huge fins stretch across the ceiling, moderating daylight flooding in from
above. Mezzanine corridors lead into classrooms and practice rooms, which are
lined with timber slats to improve acoustics.
The main auditorium is currently
an empty shell and will be fitted out once the school secures extra funding.
The building has a brickwork exterior, designed to fit in with the industrial
architecture of the city. Strip windows wrap the curved corners of the
structure, while protruding lintels form strong horizontal stripes. "The
form of the building reflects the fluid forms of musical instruments,"
says the studio. "The elevations are expressed horizontally and are
influenced by the musical stave and pianola." The ground floor comprises a
three-tiered split level, allowing the building to amble down its sloping site.
The entrance and foyer are positioned on the middle level, while performance
areas are set below and classrooms sit above.
A bridge links the new spaces
with the existing campus to the south. There's also a cantilever in one corner
to avoid a river that cuts across the corner of the site.
Chetham's School of
Music
Chetham's School of Music is the
largest world class music school in the UK and is unique to the region. The
existing medieval building contains the first public library in England, which
boats amongst its' scholars Karl Marx and is an architectural gem. It is
currently not readily accessible to the public and one of the main design
principles was to create a dialogue between the existing buildings, the new
school and its wider context.
The musical heart of the
school is in a building which is no longer fit for purpose and the school has
outgrown its current building provision for teaching and learning through its
increased success and profile.
Our brief was to create a unique
contemporary new building for the musical and academic teaching facilities,
providing a state-of-the-art environment which will be a fitting platform for
the students. A public auditorium will allow Chetham's students to display
their talents to the public. The building itself will provide an iconic
opportunity for the educational and cultural standing of Manchester to
consolidate its position on the international scene.
The site varies in elevation by
approximately 6m from the bottom of Walkers Croft to Victoria Station Approach.
We propose to use the height difference as a datum to reinforce the diversity
of the buildings' programme. The performance spaces and their associated
service spaces are located below the datum whilst the music and academic
classroom accommodation is placed above the datum. The main public entrance,
foyer and ensemble rooms are located on the datum itself. A new bridge link
allows daily secure access for the staff and pupils from the existing school
campus to the south.
The building is conceived
as a carved solid, rising from the south adjacent the grade 1 medieval
building, to a fulcrum above the main entrance to the north. The form of the building
reflects the fluid forms of musical instruments and the island nature of the
site. The elevations are expressed horizontally and are influenced by the
musical stave and pianola. Many challenges of the site have influenced the form
and structure of the building. The river Irk runs in a culvert along the route
of Walkers Croft and cuts across the site at the south western corner requiring
the upper floors of the music school to cantilever substantially at this point.
Due to the city centre location and the sensitive acoustic requirements of the
music teaching and performance spaces most of the internal rooms are
independent floating boxes. The Concert Hall has a complete independent
internal structure floating on springs. This is a project that sits at the core
of the ambitions of the Manchester city region, which is looking to preserve
and enhance its unique assets for the long-term benefit of its people.
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