Sinfonia Varsovia

The competition project for the new building on the campus of the Sinfonia Varsovia will house two major activities:
- the rehearsal and study of works of music by the musicians
- the presentation of works of music to a public audience
Both activities - rehearsing + performing - shall be seen as equally important and we would like to articulate this fact by giving the rehearsal activity a visible appearance in volumetric and architectural terms.

REHEARSAL + CONCERT
Thus, the Concert Hall and the Large Rehearsal Room (Chamber Music Hall) are housed in distinct architectural shapes. Their duality – the duality of rehearsing and performing- will characterize the new building. In addition each of the existing buildings can be used in a wonderful way:

building A: administration on upper floors, restaurant, café and hospitality rooms on the ground floor.
building B: rehearsal spaces of the Sinfonia Varsovia (except the large rehearsal room)
building C: dressing rooms
building D: retail area
building E: proposed function: spaces for artists in residence + documentation of activities of Sinfonia Varsovia

1. Functional Spine
The Concert Hall Building, the Buildings B and C as well as a possible parking area are connected via an underground corridor. Easy transportation – even for large instruments from the loading dock to the stage and the SV rehearsal area is guaranteed.

2. Listed Buildings and Preservation Issues
For the listed buildings A, B, C and D there will be no major changes to the exterior necessary. The existing buildings contain sufficient space in the necessary proportions. Even if the building does not provide enough space – as documented with building B – we are able to add well lit and well ventilated spaces around a sunken courtyard.

Thus, the new Campus of the Sinfonia Varsovia will be composed of a large group of buildings with each of them attempting to materialize and visualize one of the activities of Sinfonia Varsovia.

3. Acoustic Concept
The architectural volumes selected for both, the concert hall and the large rehearsal room are certainly not ordinary ones, they are exceptional in urban sense.

ELLIPSOID
For the concert hall an ellipsoid as a basic architectural and urban shape was selected. The concert hall - as an ideal acoustical volume - will be inscribed within this ellipsoid

TRIMMING THE ELLIPSOID
The ellipsoid is trimmed in a way, allowing an inner room of ideal acoustical shape to be inscribed. The difference between the inner room and the outer shell produces the necessary volume for reverberation chambers. Furthermore circulation, technical rooms and installations are to be placed in this area.

REVERBERATION CHAMBERS

2 Reverberation chambers left + right ~ 1,000 m³
3 possible reverberation chambers back
4 possible reverberation chambers front
1 Reverberation chambers top

adjustable volume
(expandable up to 5.000m3) ~ 3,750 m3

AVAILABLE TOTAL VOLUME ~ 4,750 m3

With the proposed inscription of the concert hall into the ellipsoid we are able to provide the necessary 4.750m3 of reverberation chambers. Expansion of the reverberation chambers is possible. By tuning the available volumes we are able to provide a concert hall with the following data:
Seats 1,800
Footprint 1,600 m²
Total volume including reverberation chambers 23,750 m³
Volume of reverberation chambers 4,750 m³
Volume without reverberation chambers 19,000 m³

Using the reverberation chambers, the reverberation time can be adjusted between 2.2 to 1.7 s due to the different types of music. The chambers behind the walls (no. 2.3 and 4) will have a variable absorption (removable heavy curtains). Using this opportunity, the reverberation time can be further reduced to approximately 1.2 s for the use of electronic music.