Steel Provides Soundtrack to Geffen Hall’s Transformation

New York’s David Geffen Hall is tuning up for its second act. The iconic music hall, located within the iconic Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and home to the New York Philharmonic, is undergoing a floor-to-ceiling renovation that will see the venue transformed into a curvilinear unified space with enhanced acoustics and aesthetics that its designers Diamond Schmitt Architects believe will “foster an intimate connection between the audience and performers.”

Led by Turner Construction Company, the renovation involves moving the stage 25 feet forward and adding several new performance features. Working with Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners, it also involves doubling the size of the main lobby, creating a new Welcome Centre and installing an eye-catching media wall that will be visible to passersby. Additionally, crews are reconfiguring Geffen Hall’s second-floor Grand Promenade to become one of the largest performance venue spaces in NYC.

“This is by far the most collaborative effort I have ever experienced in my professional career,” says Marc Heublein, Project Manager with Walters Group, the steel fabricator for the project.
No doubt, steel has provided the soundtrack to Geffen Hall’s transformation. According to Diamond Schmitt, the material was ideal for realizing the project’s eye-catching design and ambitious timelines.

“Although the existing building was built using a combination of poured-in-place concrete and structural steel, when it came to considering the design and construction for the new hall, the speed and flexibility of steel was the only approach that could deliver the project,” reports Gary McCluskie, Principal Architect with the firm.

“We are essentially constructing a new building within an existing building – almost like building a ship in a bottle,” he adds. “As such, the delivery of the structural elements through small openings in the existing envelope is only possible with steel.”

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