King’s high school and warwick prep Music building

The music building was built on the site of an old car park. It completes a family of performance buildings for The Foundation with the Bridge House Theatre and Warwick Hall. Together they enclose a new landscaped courtyard at the center of the campus.

The design creates two independent wings joined by a shared entrance and foyer space. A performance hall forms one side of the building; the other contains the classrooms, numerous practice rooms, a sound-proof percussion room, and an ensemble rehearsal space.

The hall provides an intimate space for recitals. Its walls are lined with irregular open-batten larch cladding designed to distribute the sound. Curtains fitted behind the battens allow the reverberation to be adjusted to suit the performance. The tall roof space is left open and provides the capacity needed for the volume of sound created.

The size of the hall is generated by the floor space needed for an orchestra to practice. The room can be quickly adapted for rehearsals by retracting the seats.

Philip was project leader for the Music Building while he worked for Nicholas Hare Architects. He developed the client brief as part of the initial master plan and prepared the Stage 3 design for planning. Images courtesy of Nicholas Hare Architects.