Textured surfaces. Voxman Music Building at the University of Iowa by LMN Architects
01/06/2018.
[Iowa City] USA
metalocus, VANESA DEL OLMO
metalocus, VANESA DEL OLMO
Description of project by LMN Architects
Vision
The Voxman Music Building celebrates musical performance at every turn, embracing a collaborative and exploratory student-driven model of education that treats every space as performance space. The building shares this sense of musical discovery with the community through a transparent expression. The pattern of streets and open spaces in the mixed-use district of Iowa City extends directly into the building’s multi-level interior spaces, cultivating a sense of vertical urban vitality and acknowledging its place within the community.
Site and Building Program
The six-story, 186,000-square-foot building is situated between campus and the downtown core of Iowa City, embracing both academic and urban experiences. The program comprises a 700-seat concert hall, a 200-seat recital hall, an organ performance hall, a music library, rehearsal rooms, practice rooms, classrooms, and faculty studios and offices linked by a series of vertically connected community spaces. A multi-story glass corner entry at a major downtown intersection reinforces the merger of campus and city, with the two major performance venues marking their presence on each of the main facades.
Between the performance spaces, porous, day-lit circulation volumes interlink to form the student commons, performance and rehearsal lobby, and three-story atrium. A fourth floor exterior terrace, nestled between the wings of the rear facade, serves as gathering space that frames views to the city’s historic courthouse and countryside beyond.
Design
The concert hall cantilevers over the Burlington Street sidewalk and the Student Commons below, while the recital hall, wrapped in a shingled-glass wall system, reaches out over the South Clinton Street sidewalk. A composition of subtly textured terra cotta panels and low-iron glass with delicate shading patterns wraps the full exterior. All spaces in the building, including performance halls, rehearsal rooms, offices, and common areas, provide natural light and connections with the outside, while maintaining acoustic isolation. Requirements of the facility’s high-profile performance spaces are met by high-performance digital design.
The concert hall features a suspended “theatroacoustic” system, unifying acoustics, lighting, and life-safety requirements into a dramatic, multi- functional architectural expression, and the resulting intricately sculpted element is assembled out of 946 unique, folded-aluminum composite modules digitally fabricated from modules digitally designed and fabricated from the architects’ parametric model. In the recital hall, red-colored acoustical panels optimize the room’s acoustical properties while incorporating a wall-sized shingled-glass window that unites the performance event with the urban experience. In the three major rehearsal spaces, high ceilings are filled with swarms of brightly colored, kite-like reflectors that vary between solid and perforated to achieve dynamic acoustical and lighting effects.
SELECTED DESIGN AWARDS
2018 AIA National Honor Award for Interior Architecture
2017 Chicago Athenaeum/Europe International Architecture Award
2017 American Architecture Awards Airports and Transportation Centers
2017 Architizer Popular Choice Winner, Architecture + Glass
2016 Fast Company Innovation by Design Honorable Mention for Spaces, Places, Cities
2016 AIA Washington Council Civic Design Awards Honorable Mention
2016 AIA Seattle Chapter Award of Merit
2016 City of Seattle Design Commission Design Excellence Award
John Chau, AIA,
John is one of our most gifted designers and conceptualists. His ability to integrate the unique characteristics of each project with local culture and tradition has resulted in responsive, innovative solutions. His collaborative working style and mentoring skills have been fundamental in the success of many of the firm’s most important projects.
Sam Miller, FAIA, LEED AP,
Sam’s work includes civic, education, and performing arts projects in addition to leading LMN’s advances in sustainable design and design technology. His construction and engineering background supports a thorough understanding of building systems and technology.
Walt Niehoff, AIA,
Walt has been with LMN since 1989 and leads the firm’s private sector work. His expertise includes the design and project management of mixed-use, commercial, retail, corporate office, and high-rise office projects. He is a leader in developing progressive designs that integrate mixed-use projects into urban neighborhoods, and highly regarded for his ability to work with stakeholders to create projects embraced by their communities.
Wendy Pautz, FAIA,
Wendy is known for integrating conceptual design with a sophisticated knowledge of technical resolution. She synthesizes pragmatic project requirements with far-reaching social, economic and environmental considerations resulting in innovative solutions that enhance the life of their communities.
Mark Reddington, FAIA,
Mark has been instrumental in establishing LMN as a leader in the design of public places with over 120 awards including national and international awards for architecture, urban design and sustainability. He leads projects in all market sectors including convention centers, performing arts, education and transportation and brings a strong focus on enhancing the public realm through design excellence.
George Shaw, FAIA, LEED AP,
George provides project leadership on major public projects including convention centers, performing arts venues and higher education facilities. His ability to discern and resolve fundamental planning and design issues, combined with his management and cost control skills, ensure a creative and highly effective design and project delivery process.
Stephen Van Dyck, AIA, LEED AP,
Stephen has earned a reputation for innovation, design technology and collaborative leadership and is widely recognized as an industry authority in the adoption of emerging technologies. His project experience encompasses a wide range of public assembly, performing arts, higher education and mixed-use projects.
Rafael Viñoly-Menendez, AIA,
Rafael has been involved in a wide range of national and international projects, including performing arts venues, sports and events facilities, with a special emphasis on the planning and design of convention and conference centers. His involvement with a wide variety of project types has consistently produced creative design solutions that capitalize on the opportunities implicit in the client’s program, site, and budget.