SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT
1st Prize in the 2-Phase Realisation Competition “Konzerthaus Nuremberg”, 2018
SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT
The main idea of the design is an addition to an independent solitaire to the ensemble of the Meistersingerhalle. Continuing the typological principle of the existing building and its integration into the land- scape, the concept furthermore adds a new spatial and acoustic experience to the site. A special relationship between similarity and deference makes the historical qualities of both buildings visible. The design creates a precise large volume, which is nevertheless free of spectacular gestures. It combines architecture, program and urban development into a specific entity, suitable only to this particular location.
A HOUSE WITH FOUR FRONT SIDES
Within the urban planning context, the ensemble advances from the second to the first row through the addition of the new building. By placing the new volume into an area previously dominated by traffic infrastructure, its strong presence strengthens the zone’s identity of a public space.
A central foyer connects the space to the park on the other side of the Konzerthaus and the entrance areas of the different buildings at the same time. The result is a house with four fronts. In contrast to the existing building of the Meistersingerhalle, the open foyer is wrapped by a transparent skin that makes the atmosphere inside visible from the outside. Conversely, views into the landscape situate the building in its specific context. On the upper floors, the building is surrounded by a translucent façade that creates a unique lighting atmosphere.
FROM SPACE TO SOUND EXPERIENCE
The concert visitors walk from the open foyer along the corridors behind the façade into the closed concert hall thus be- coming an exceptional spatial experience. During the daytime, surrounding trees are reflected on to the building’s facade. At night, the concert hall glows in the darkness in a shadowy manner and opens to the urban environment.
The design of the outdoor space continues the existing structure and reinterprets it through consistent materialisation. A new, spacious square unites all entrances and serves as a central place of arrival and meeting place. Its special character is given by a punching out in which existing trees become strongly present in bundled form. The design creates an open space, in which the existing landscape not only surrounds the new concert hall as a scene, but also becomes an integral part of the interior experience.
THE IDEAL SOUNDING BODY
The concert hall, with seats for 1,526 visitors, as well as a further 192 seats on the choir podium and the stands above it, is designed as an ideal sound box in the form of a shoe box. It is based on the basic typology of a rectangular hall with perfect proportions in a ratio of 2:1:1, which best corresponds to the laws of acoustics.
The 50.0 m : 25.0 m : 19.0 m rectangle hall defines the acoustic signature of the building, which places it on a level with world-class concert halls. With a planned room volume of 19,000 m3, the optimum reverberation time of 2.0 s can be achieved. At the same time, the sound of the orchestra will still fully unfold even in fortissimo. The largest distance of a seat to the stage is no more than 35 m, so that even these seats every little sound from the orchestra can be heard. This is supported by the planned ceiling design, which specifically reflects the sound from the stage to the audience seats. Reflections on the side walls as well as on the undersides of the cantilevered seating areas ensure that the audience feels wrapped in the music.
THE IDEAL SOUNDING BODY
The hall is arranged in the building in such a way that no enclosure component is directly adjacent to the outside area. There is always a second level as a circumferential foyer or as a mezzanine in the roof.
The steepness of the parquet and the ranks are planned in such a way that very good visual relations to the stage will be created. This also ensures a good direct sound supply to the audience seats. The stands cover only a few rows of spectators and are arranged high enough above the seats so that even the last rows can be provided with sufficient sound reflections via the hall ceiling. Reflective ceiling canopies above the stage ensure that sound reflects very fast to the stage area, enabling the musicians stay synchronized with each other whilst and also improving the overall sound of their own instrument.
PROJECT DATA
Project: Open 2-phase Competition for the new Konzerthaus and its open space in Nuremberg
Site: Nuremberg, Germany
Client: City of Nuremberg
Design Team Architecture: Topotek 1 Architektur GmbH, Berlin/Zurich
Martin Rein-Cano, Dan Budik, Cecilia Ambrois, Alejandro Garin Odriozola, Pavlo Zabotin, Viktor Kopeikin
Super Future Collective, Nuremberg
Anja Davé, Steven Davé, Alex Hofmeier, Ames Kader, Felix Thiele
Johannes Kappler Architektur & Städtebau GmbH, Nuremberg
Johannes Kappler
Landscape Architecture:
Topotek 1 GmbH
Martin Rein-Cano, Cecilia Ambrois, Alejandro Garin Odriozola
Competition: 1st Prize, 2018
