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Jack Diamond to Design Montreal Concert Hall

Here it is:

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http://www.montrealgazette.com/last+hall/1639078/story.html
 
I'm surprised there are no side aisles at orchestra level. The Four Seasons Centre ( with the same seating capacity ) has a centre block that's about 20 seats wide - right back to the parterre - with sections on either side that vary between 6 and 8 seats wide. This Montreal hall has a centre block that varies between about 30 seats wide at the front and 20 at the back ( like Roy Thomson Hall in reverse), and a parterre. Roy Thomson takes forever to clear at intermission.

The beech panelling also reminds me of Roy Thomson, where the wood finishes are light; I prefer the darker walls of our opera house ( Diamond's original ochre was overruled by Bradshaw, who wanted a darker colour, allowing the room to disappear when the lights went down ) or the Eaton Auditorium at the Carlu.
 
Rectilinear halls work acoustically all the time. Ask anyone of this in Detroit, or Omaha, or Minneapolis, or Edmonton, and they'll tell you the rectangle is a surefire acoustic. So Montreal will join the long list of cities with shoebox halls....

Having said all that, I can't help but add that this interior design is a tad boring. I am tiring somewhat of all the blonde wood I am seeing just everywhere, of late, and this place is absolutely lined in it. Oh, well, it isn't my hall and I really don't care that much. I wish them luck getting it done and I'm glad they are funding it sensibly in these times. Basically "nice" exterior work from Diamond.
 
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Re: the exterior rendering: They've got their show-off City-Room-equivalent, but why a salle urbaine that stretches along the side wall too - where are those scattered renderpersons going, I wonder?

Perhaps the lack of a Bradshaw figure calling the shots has allowed Diamond to do the interior he wants this time - spare, monochromatic, with lots of pale wood, and a more angular shape? A Modernist interior - more like RTH than the somewhat baroque Fraser Elliott Hall with wavy balconies and little banks of lights on their fronts.

Shoeboxes seem to work well for audiences and performers. The orchestra in Gehry's Disney Hall - surrounded by the audience rather than by side and rear walls - have difficulty hearing one-another play, apparently, and are more dependant on the conductor. Disney's acoustics got good reviews, though the sound is apparently less uniform than in the best shoebox halls.
 
Initial impressions of the exterior are good. I think I like it better than his Toronto version.
 
What works well with the City Room is the feeling of contained energy you get, with 1,500 people or more crowding four floors and milling about before the performance and at intermission. If the City Room had also been wrapped along Richmond that energy would have been dispersed. Of course we don't know where the sparse renderpersons are going, but I get the sense of a good idea having been stretched too far with the rather grand promenade provided for them around this building.
 
Urban Shocker said:
What works well with the City Room is the feeling of contained energy you get, with 1,500 people or more crowding four floors and milling about before the performance and at intermission. If the City Room had also been wrapped along Richmond that energy would have been dispersed. Of course we don't know where the sparse renderpersons are going, but I get the sense of a good idea having been stretched too far with the rather grand promenade provided for them around this building.
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That's the one thing I don't like about this rendering. It's not quite as focused as the FSC.
 
Our arts centre in Burlington is looking quite spiffy now. I must get some pictures for you.
 
Bogtrotter said:
Great that Canada's most renowned symphony is getting a topnotch venue, even the exterior looks good. I must have walked right by it a couple of weeks ago while at the Jazz fest, I actually didn't realize the building was so far into construction.
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You'd think it is " Canada's most renowned ", if you listen to CBC. In fact, you might even think it's Canada's only renowned symphony.
 
Just fyi, in a fit of Montreal chauvinism, my relatives there are quite seriously pissed that the job went to a Toronto-based architect. And I do mean pissed. And they are betting that the result will be not-so-hot. I chuckle about it a lot. Jack Diamond does very purpose-based work.

As for "most renowned" part, that is the truth, but that doesn't mean "best", just "best known". A big recording contract with a very connected conductor can effect that sort of image.
 
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