Bing Concert Hall

By Michael Webb - 9 August 2013

Stanford University has nurtured many of the best talents of Silicon Valley, and they have given back so generously that the school has been criticized for favoring technology over the humanities. The creation of a new arts district at the edge of the campus helps to rebut that charge, and the Bing Concert Hall sets a high standard for the buildings that will follow. Ennead Architects, a New York firm that grew out of the Polshek Partnership, secured the commission to create an auditorium for unamplified musical performances. Working with Nagata Acoustics, which has won acclaim for music spaces around the world, Ennead has created an exemplary facility for the vibrant musical culture of Stanford and a public resource for the San Francisco Bay Area.
An oval drum of reinforced concrete provides acoustic isolation for the 842-seat auditorium. It’s faced in ochre-toned stucco and embraced by the lobby and rehearsal room, storage and service spaces. Expansive glazing opens the public areas to an arboretum, and glass-enclosed light wells strategically placed around the drum bring the landscape into the heart of the lobby. The reticence of the approach heightens the drama of the auditorium. It’s easy to spot the influence of Gehry Partners’ Walt Disney Concert Hall in the configuration of the seating, just as the vineyard plan of that space was inspired by Hans Scharoun’s Philharmonie in Berlin. As Ennead Design Partner Richard Olcott explains, “we came to the interview with four alternative plans. The client expressed a strong preference for vineyard seating, and the ovoid form evolved from our discussions with acoustician Yasu Toyota.”
As with Disney Hall, the design of Bing evolved out of an extended dialog between architect and acoustician to achieve a perfect balance of visual and aural excellence. The big difference was size: Disney has 2500 seats, Bing a third as many. Sound is easier to control when it has less far...