The new School of Music facility at a Florida university features a defining element called the "lyrical wall" that uses light and shadow to create visual interest and express rhythm. The 103,000 square foot facility houses performance and classroom spaces and connects the university's academic core to the surrounding community. Designers faced challenges from the hot climate and high construction costs, and addressed these by designing shaded outdoor spaces and using tilt-up concrete construction for the wall. The lyrical wall becomes the public identity of the school, ordering the site and connecting indoor and outdoor spaces through its varying heights and openings.

1. School of MuSic and the lyrical Wall
aia hampton roads 2009 design awards
d23: unbuilt
Challenging economic drivers inspired designers of a new
School of Music at a Florida university to investigate some-
what unorthodox construction strategies and to design a
dramatic yet simple defining element—the lyrical wall—that
uses shadow and materiality to create interest and express The “lyrical wall,” with its playful distribution of light and shadow,
rhythm and pattern. sponsors the expression of related “sound generating spaces.” It
becomes a visual expression of rhythm and pattern without
The $36 million facility, which will open in fall 2010, houses being literal. It reinforces the building’s purpose—music—and
choral, orchestral and jazz halls, classrooms, faculty studios, becomes its public identity.
student practice rooms in 103,000 square feet. It includes a
500-seat concert hall and a 100-seat student recital hall. A Staccato, solid and void. The wall creates a threshold as concert-
1,200-seat performance hall is planned for a second phase. goers or students move from one space to another along the path.
Parts of the wall have the building behind it; in another place the
It is a long-anticipated project, having been on the University’s wall opens to a student courtyard, in still other spaces the wall
capital improvement plan for more than 10 years. opens to a green amphitheater and smaller, more intimate eddies.
The wall soars to 55 feet in height in some places, and diminishes
This new facility will anchor a campus edge previously defined to bench height in others.
by asphalt parking lots. It will connect to the University’s
academic core and its existing arts quadrant, and heighten This simple construct helped answer another design challenge.
awareness of the music school with the local community. The client initially wanted a brick and block facility. High costs
caused designers to explore the limits of “tilt-up” concrete as an
Several themes drove design solutions: alternative. The resulting performance spaces are composed of
a combination of pre-cast concrete veneer and site-cast tilt-up
• The site inherently has public and academic faces. Capturing
structural concrete.
and directing the pedestrian traffic, which naturally tra-
verses the eastern edge of the site, creates the potential for
This solution then allowed designers to mimic the “consistently
achieving broad engagement and a public presence.
inconsistent” patterning of the wall on the academic face of the
• The climate is typically hot and humid, making shaded
building, where rehearsal and classroom spaces are housed. By
exterior spaces and pathways essential. The notion of an
placing windows at different heights and using materials to
open-air public concourse emerged as a device to provide
achieve a bas relief expression, light and shadow create a rhyth-
a public/patron/academic interface.
mic pattern that works day and night. It transforms what would
• Envisioning more than just a covered walkway, designers otherwise be plain boxes into memorable experiences for all.
decided to give the path a backdrop. This backdrop to the
400-foot concourse evolved into a defining feature, named The lyrical wall becomes the identity of the School of Music. It
the “lyrical wall,” connecting the academic core to the public orders the site, and serves as the conduit between inside and out,
access point, while serving as the threshold of the building. between public and private.

2. SITE
A r T S E x PA n S I o n ArTS ACAdEMIC CorE
Campus Adjacencies
The new School of Music facility
anchors a campus edge previously
defined by asphalt parking lots.
It connects the University’s
academic core, its existing arts
quadrant and the community.
128’ 196’
0 64’
ClInICAl
PA r k I n g
MEdICAl
ST U d E n T l I F E
PA r k I n g
ArTS
Campus Sectors

3. PROGRAM
a Concourse
a b Atruium
c lobby
d Concert Hall
e Amphitheater
e c f Jazz rehearsal
g Instrumental rehearsal
h Choral rehearsal
i Student recital Hall
j Administration
k Student Courtyard
d
level Two: Clasrooms, labs, and practice rooms
a
0 32’ 64’ 96’
k
b
f
j
g h i
a
0 32’ 64’ 96’
level Three: Faculty studios and offices level one
The 103,000-square-foot facility includes a 500-seat concert hall, a 100-seat
student recital hall as well as classrooms, student practice rooms and faculty
studios. A 1,200-seat performance hall is planned for a second phase.
SEr vICE
PUBlIC
ACAdEMIC
Concept Sketch Site Zoning

4. PUBLIC FACE
Shaded walkways are essential in the facility’s hot, humid climate. Yet, designers
envisioned more. By giving the path a backdrop, the concourse evolved into a
defining feature called the “lyrical wall,” connecting the academic core to the public
street, while serving as the threshold of the building. The lyrical wall becomes the
identity of the School of Music. It orders the site, and serves as the conduit between
inside and out, between public and private.
Public Face Phase I Public Face Phase II

5. CONCOURSE PATH
Capturing and directing the
pedestrian traffic, which naturally
traverses the eastern edge of the site,
creates the potential for achieving
broad engagement and a public
presence for the School of Music.
Concourse Path Phase I Concourse Path Phase II

6. LYRICAL WALL
The wall becomes a visual expression of rhythm and pattern without
being literal. It reinforces the building’s purpose—music—and
becomes its public identity. It soars to 55 feet in height in some
places, and diminishes to bench height in others.
The client initially wanted a brick and block facility. High
costs caused designers to explore the limits of “tilt-up”
concrete as an alternative. The resulting performance
spaces are composed of a combination of pre-
cast concrete veneer and site-cast tilt-up structural
concrete. The wall is primarily pre-cast veneer.
defining Presence

7. PLACES ALONG THE WALL
The wall creates a threshold as concert-goers or students
move from one space to another along the path. Parts of
the wall have the building behind it; in another place the
wall opens to a student courtyard, in still other spaces
the wall opens to a green amphitheater and smaller, more
intimate eddies.
1
2
3
1 Amphitheater
2 Concert Hall lobby
3 Auto drop-off
4
4 Student Courtyard
5
5 Atrium
6 6 Entry Plaza
Concourse Connections datum of Activity

8. ACADEMIC FACE
Transforming the Expression
Designers mimicked the lyrical wall’s
“consistently inconsistent” patterning
on the academic face of the building,
where rehearsal and classroom spaces
are housed. By placing windows at
different heights and using materials to
achieve a bas relief expression, light and
shadow create a rhythmic pattern that
works day and night. It transforms what
would otherwise be plain boxes into
memorable experiences for all. With its
playful distribution of light and shadow,
the lyrical wall sponsors the expression
of related “sound generating spaces.”
Academic Face visual Association related “sound generating spaces”