Bramall Music Building
University of Birmingham
Birmingham, England
Project Type: New Construction
Seat Count: 450 seats
Opening: March 2012
Architect: Glen Howells Architects
AD Scope: Acoustics, Theatrical Consulting
Audio, Video, LightingBramall Music Building houses a 450-seat auditorium, a domed rehearsal room, music studios, offices and teaching rooms to support the University's strong music program. The new building completes a crescent of buildings funded by philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie--but money ran out before the final building was built. Now, over 100 years later, the final building in the redbrick crescent takes its home.
Acoustically our challenge was to address the wide diversity of music education and performance in the Music School. For example, students in the the Electronic Music department create spatial effects using a 96-channel sound system; the Centre of Early Music Performance Research may have a perform with a single lute or a small baroque orchestra; the University Orchestra performs with up to 80 musicians. And once or twice a year, the full orchestra and 200 chorus need to use the room to practice for performances at Symphony Hall. The room has a number of special acoustical features (currently unique to this design) to accommodate this large range of uses.
