This building is a dedicated classical music hall constructed in the central urban area of Nagoya City.
With a seating capacity of 310, this privately operated music hall is distinctive from the outset, beginning with its site selection within a bustling commercial district.

The building accommodates a small amount of commercial space on the ground floor and residential units above, while the majority of the volume is occupied by the music hall itself. Due to its functional requirements, the hall manifests as a solid volume largely devoid of exterior openings, emerging directly within the urban block.
In terms of form, in order to maximize the internal volume of the hall and to respond to the impact of road setback regulations on the upper levels, the exterior shell takes on a gradually transforming, fragmentary stone-like envelope, resulting in a “topographical form” reminiscent of an armadillo.

Acoustic design was developed from the early stages of the project through extensive discussions with the music director, Mr. Nariaki Sanegi, and the acoustic designer, Mr. Makoto Karasawa.

In the initial planning phase, the lower two floors were allocated to commercial use. However, from an acoustic standpoint, it became necessary to further increase the hall’s internal volume. Consequently, the commercial facilities were limited to the first floor, and the hall floor level was lowered by one story.
To extend the reverberation time, the interior walls of the hall were finished with thickly applied mortar over a concrete substrate, utilizing materials of maximum hardness.

In the transverse section of the hall, the upper portion was opened into a drum-like form to improve sound quality, allowing for a greater balance of ceiling volume. Additionally, to appropriately disperse sound, convex circular surfaces with a constant radius of curvature were required in relation to the direction of the sound source.

The dune-like reliefs introduced on the walls, featuring zigzag sectional profiles, are composed entirely of convex surfaces facing the sound source and are arranged in a continuous, wave-like pattern to enhance sound diffusion.

The frontal relief above the stage also features a curved sectional form oriented toward the sound source. This element was designed to allow the sound produced by the performers to return to them as quickly as possible.

In contrast to many public halls, which often result in mediocre acoustics due to excessive accommodation of diverse use cases, this project benefited from the client’s clear intention to create a hall dedicated exclusively to classical music. Combined with the well-defined design philosophies of the music director and acoustic designer, as well as thorough and repeated acoustic simulations, the project achieved an exceptionally distinctive and high-quality acoustic performance.