The new David Geffen Hall will open in October 2022, two years ahead of its reopening schedule, according to the Lincoln Centre.
Canada’s Diamond Schmitt Architects is responsible for the overall masterplan of the re-imagined David Geffen Hall, which includes the public spaces. Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) was brought on later to develop the public spaces further. “It’s really been quite a collaborative process between the two teams,” says Andrea Chin of Diamond Schmitt.
Envisioned by Diamond Schmitt Architects, in collaboration with acoustician Paul Scarbrough of Akustiks and theatre designer Joshua Dachs of Fisher Dachs Associates, the re-imagined theatre’s interior will offer improved acoustics and “a more welcoming and intimate audience experience with optimized sightlines.”
By reducing the number of seats by 500 for a total of 2200 and relocating the stage forward by 25 feet, the seating will wrap around the stage and bring the entire audience 30 percent closer to performers.
The new concert hall’s hybrid of vineyard and shoebox-styles offers state-of-the-art flexibility that easily accommodates different modes of performance – semi-staged opera, dance, film premiers, amplified pop and rock concerts and more.
Surrounded by the warmth of natural beech wood walls molded into bespoke grooves reminiscent of sound waves, the natural design fosters a warm setting. This is further expressed through a luminous veil of the mesh along the ceiling and seating upholstered in a vibrant flower petal fabric, complemented by a firefly light fixture that will create a luminous focal point above the orchestra.
“When it opens this fall, the new theatre will be transformational for the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center, both in the intimacy that the redesigned hall offers, as well as the high degree of artistic flexibility permitted by the stage configurations,” says Gary McCluskie, Principal at Diamond Schmitt. “The design’s surround hall approach honours the acoustic benefits of a shoebox, while embodying a new model of sound that maintains power, depth and intimacy in equal measures, and we can’t wait for audiences to experience it.”
Project Team
Public Spaces
Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA)
Theatre
Diamond Schmitt: Gary McCluskie (Principal, Project Architect), Sybil Wa (Principal, Project Manager), Matthew Lella (Principal), Don Schmitt (Principal)
Akustiks, led by Paul Scarbrough – Acoustic Design
Fisher Dachs Associates, led by Joshua Dachs – Theater Planning & Design
Turner Construction Company – Construction Manager
Kohler Ronan Thornton Tomasetti – Engineering Services