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Music with a View Walker has always worked well for theater, but not for music. The steeply raked seating absorbs too much sound, and there is very little reverberation in the space. Even if this could be fixed, scheduling conflicts between the music and dramatic arts programs were bound to occur. Changing the Program A better approach, explains Centerbrook partner Jeff Riley, would be to build a new, flexible building that could accommodate a wide variety of practice and performance uses and be a magnet for students and the community at large to enjoy concerts by visiting musical ensembles. As an addition to Walker, it could also accentuate the school's major physical asset: incredible views of surrounding hills and lakes. Centerbrook married the new pavilion, Effers Hall, to the existing building with a graceful arc, clad in recycled copper, containing new practice rooms, offices, studios, classrooms, and other spaces supporting the music program. This addition blossoms into a two-story lobby leading to a new performance hall. The architecture of Effers Hall mediates between the Georgian revival style of the older buildings at Hotchkiss and the late 20th-century modernism of the main building. "We conceived the new pavilion in form as a Georgian-era conservatory," says Riley, "a traditional shape wrapped with a modern material — glass." Transparency brings the pavilion to life, filling it with visual energy. It allows casual passersby to see inside, offering glimpses of rehearsals or performances. It also permits those inside to enjoy views to the west and north of the gently rolling landscape and the placid lake. Acoustical Glass Glass is a rather unorthodox material for performance halls, which tend to be visually and acoustically insulated in "black boxes." But glass can be a good material for creating acoustically lively spaces because its hard surface can lengthen reverberation time — the mark of all good concert halls. Effers Hall generates a two-second reverberation. To diffract sound and to avoid harsh acoustical reflections, the glass walls at the orchestra and balcony levels are slightly angled, giving the pavilion a faceted appearance. Acoustic drapes above the ceiling's suspended sound-reflecting panels allow the hall to be "tuned" according to the size of the ensemble, the audience, and the type of music performed. Rolf Smedvig, who as lead trumpet for the Empire Brass has performed in halls around the world, remarked during a performance at Effers that it was "one of the very best in the world," and that the architect ought to "stand up and take a bow." Flexible Seating The pavilion is an intimate performance space, made even more so by its balcony, which completely surrounds the hall. Riley had recently attended a performance at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, designed by Hans Scharoun, with balconies ringed about a central stage, and found the experience of sitting above the orchestra and facing the audience fascinating. This arrangement also allows the stage to become, in effect, a small, private music chamber, with a small audience seated in the balcony over the stage, with the musicians positioned with their backs to the hall, and with moveable panels to help reflect the sound. At the opposite extreme, French doors in the glass walls at the orchestra level open to allow an audience seated on the terrace and surrounding lawn to enjoy a concert beyond the hall's confines. Moveable orchestra-level seating permits the entire hall to be transformed for other events, such as banquets. The Hotchkiss School board of directors wanted this building to be sustainable. The music center employs a variety of sustainable features, among them occupancy sensors for lighting controls; low-energy-consuming light fixtures; fast-growing renewable materials such as bamboo flooring; recycled structural steel; and low- or no-VOC paints and sealants. The building qualifies for LEED certification under the rating program of the U.S. Green Building Council. Effers Hall has been a big hit with students and people in the community, who can enjoy free concerts there throughout the year. Glassy and green, the pavilion has become a campus landmark. >>> Discuss this article in the Architecture Forum... Michael J. Crosbie is editor-in-chief of Faith & Form, a senior associate with Steven Winter Associates, and a contributing editor to ArchitectureWeek. He worked at Centerbrook Architects from 1985 to 1992 and is author of Centerbrook: Reinventing American Architecture.
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