North Carolina State University Music Building

North Carolina State University

Project idea

NCSU was founded as an agricultural and technical college in 1887 to provide a “Liberal and practical education” for the citizens of North Carolina. The music program, established 1925, was an early foray into arts and culture. Other programs added at the time included forestry, textiles, business and education. The School of liberal arts was created in 1963 and coincided with the university designation.

Price hall no longer serves the music department’s needs. It is neither code compliant nor does it meet acceptable accessibility standards for NCSU students and staff. The program has expanded since 1972 and growth is expected to continue. The new site will allow for dedicated instructional spaces and numerous rehearsal spaces for NCSU’s many ensembles. The new building would also serve as connector and circulation hub in a dense campus separated by a railway system. The site of the new building lends itself to celebrating circulation since it located at the end of an overhead pedestrian bridge connecting the different parts of the campus.

Project description

The project entails creating about 60,000sq. ft of space for teaching, practicing music and holding music events. These spaces vary widely in size and design based on uses such as orchestra practice, recital halls and practice studios.
The design consists of two stacked masses. A circulation path and public gathering area is formed between the masses which connects areas of high pedestrian circulation on the site. The lower mass contains of the administrative spaces such as lecture halls and teaching studios while the higher mass contains the music spaces such as recital halls.

Technical information

BUILDING INFORMATION
The building is 60,000 sq. ft and has 4 levels of about 15,000 sq. ft.

MATERIAL
The building design makes use of a terracotta cladding and curtain walls on the higher mass and red bricks on the second lower mass.

STRUCTURE
The building is made of a steel superstructure on concrete foundation. The cantilever is supported by trusses that help transfer loads back to columns.

HAVC
The building makes use of active chilled beams for rooms requiring sound isolation from noise and duct work from air handling units to other spaces. Large gathering public spaces such as the atrium have air supplied through green walls that filter the air supplying and returning from the spaces.

SUSTAINABILITY
The design makes use of a green roof to mitigate loss of energy to cooling in the summer and to create a biophilic environment for students. The design also makes use of solar panels to help heat water used in the HVAC system.

Co-authors

Mark Storch (Collaborator in history and site analysis section)