Desautels Concert Hall

The final piece of the multi-phased Taché Arts Complex project, the 400 seat facility is carefully integrated into a tightly constrained, pre-existing context. To the north and west, the site is framed by the perpendicular wings of Taché Hall, an original campus building over 100 years old. To the east, the Concert Hall connects to the more recent Taché Centre Block building, making use of existing mechanical spaces and an elevator core.

The orientation of the Hall was governed by the need to construct an orchestra pit below grade while avoiding a major underground utility tunnel running diagonally across the site. With the overall size and shape of the hall largely driven by performance requirements and site constraints, the exterior design of the building grew from a desire to ameliorate shadow impacts, while simultaneously creating a formalized sequence of arrival befitting a concert hall. Its silver grey metal cladding lends an air of simple elegance.