ASCÉNDER at Philharmonic Hall of Szczecin

2014 Mies van der Rohe award

The Barcelona based Estudio Barozzi Veiga won the 2014 Mies van der Rohe award thanks to the new Philharmonic Hall of Szczecin located on the historical site of the “Konzerthaus”, which was destroyed during Second World War. The new building adopted the vocabulary of the city’s historical façades and the surrounded urban landscape: it extrudes from the shapes of the typical steep roofs, the vertical divisions of the urban blocks, the churches’ neo-Gothic adornments and the picturesque towers scattered through the old city centre.

This building that features ribbed glass cladding and a spiky roof, giving it the appearance of an icy crown, hosts two concert halls built entirely of concrete for optimum acoustic isolation and conceived of as two suspended boxes that create a large open lobby and different foyers lit by skylights. Meanwhile a white spiral staircase forms a promenade connecting all the functions and terminating into a large multifurciontal space where the iconic double skin system of the shell also serves several important purposes: the two layers create a uniform look across all façades, providing a constant glow of diffused natural light thanks to the air space between the membranes - naturally ventilated to filter out heat and control interior temperatures.

The 951 seat Philharmonic Hall is intimate and simple: it is composed following a Fibonacci sequence whose fragmentation increases with the distance from the scene and gives shape to an ornamental space which reminds of the classical tradition through its gold-leaf covering. The 195 Chamber Hall is clad in black and seats: this "black box" has a simple curved ceiling and can host all kind of small concerts and performances. Initial hostility to this buildign among local audiences has been replaced by pleasure and pride, in large part because of the grandeur of these internal spaces. Similarly, the orchestra itself, nervous about relocating from its 400 seat original home in an elegant 1920s town hall, is now happy, courtesy of generous back-of-house facilities, full houses and, most importantly, the success of the acoustics.

Our proposal for this project was the Perseo model: selected by the customer, it was then customized to meet the demanding dimensions of the venue as well as the particular acoustic requirements. We manufactured up to 8 different types of chairs with different combinations of seat centres, back angles and envelopes - between 350/400mm according to the local Polish fire regulations. Similarly, we improved the acoustic behavior of the chair by combining thick foam with perforated wooden panels backed with mineral wool.