TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Urban Strategy Landscape Strategy Heritage Strategy Performance Strategies Building and Landscape as Stage Arvo Part Experience Room Theatre Operations Sustainable Design Strategies Panel Reductions CD
1 2 4 4 6
9 10
PLEASE NOTE: In the 5 design panels we describe the concepts behind the project through plans sections, diagrams, words and views. Please note that the content of this report is EXPANDED from the panel texts, providing additional information.
INTRODUCTION I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played.
— Arvo Pärt
Pärt’s music is spare and polyphonic at the same time. St Peter’s Church is austere and highly textured. Our project for Arvo Pärt Hall/Vabaduse Square proposes a new merged relationship between the heritage architecture of the Church, the new Annex and the new landscape which forms a clear and singular unity, yet is multi-layered in texture, form and space to create a place that encourages planned and unforeseen performances of all sizes – a place alive with the possibility of performance. To do this, the urban strategy, landscape strategy, heritage strategy, performance strategy and sustainable design strategies are in a symbiotic relationship that positions St Peter’s Church and Arvo Pärt Hall as the agent of a dynamic spatial and cultural reorganization of Vabaduse Square.
1
URBAN STRATEGY REORIENT THE SQUARE With the Arvo Pärt Hall joined to the Church and the Arvo Pärt Experience Room at the apex, the entire square is reoriented on the diagonal view to the War of Independence monument, the spire of the Church of the Holy Trinity and the mountain with Rakvere’s Fortress. The historical schema of creating a solid and contiguous street edge to formalize the square has already been undermined by the positioning of buildings on end to the square, leaving large gaps between buildings. Rather than trying to make the square into something that it is not, this project seizes the opportunity to use the resultant space and alignments to rotate the space to align with the existing topography. The new built form and new tree massing in and around the square reinforces this reorientation: The new Competence Centre mirrors Rakvere Secondary School framing the open corner of the square to the Northwest with the view to the War of Independence monument and beyond. The space between the buildings surrounding the square is drawn into the square to create a succession of sweeping amphitheatres that mirror the topography. The diagonal treed boulevards on Vabaduse and Tuleviku Streets, will be densified and renewed. The new trees, walls, Arvo Pärt Plaza, and landforms on the square follow this diagonal orientation framing this long view.
Topography
Built Form
Spatial Form
2
REORIENT THE BUILDING AS A BELVEDERE The new building sits back from the existing Church allowing for a grand public terrace at the second floor looking onto the new Arvo Pärt Plaza and the Square. Joining the plaza and the terrace is a sweeping set of stairs to provide 24-hour access to the belvedere, as well as providing overlook to the Plaza and the Square. Setting the new building mass back permits the terrace between the new and old to be oriented to the diagonal view along with the Grand Stair and Plaza.
REORIENT THE TRAFFIC Voïmla street will be closed, allowing the Arvo Pärt Hall, Plaza and landscape space of the Square to become contiguous. The resultant roadway provides access to the 126 space upper level of public underground parking, just barely recessed in the ground, afforded by the existing topography. Access to the 18-space at-grade covered public parking area is from Tuleviku street. These parking areas are concealed by the raised landscape amphitheatres constructed as thick green roofs. Roadways around the Square are narrowed to slow the flow of traffic and sidewalks are established around the perimeter and zig-zagging through the square to make the whole more pedestrian friendly. Bicycle parking is provided for performers and the public under cover – under the building overhang at the rear, and in the parking under the Square. This is both an urbanizing and sustainable strategy in order to help encourage users of the area to avoid transportation methods that result in pollution.
3
LANDSCAPE STRATEGY In contrast to the new hardscaped public square further North in the town, the new Vabaduse Square has the opportunity to provide a new kind of formal ‘commons’ for the surrounding institutional and residential buildings, while linking it physically and conceptually to the existing Vabaduse Park. The new Square creates a structured topography that formalizes the space with sweeps of grassy amphitheatre spaces. Rather than ‘leak’ out the northwest corner into the Vabaduse Park, the walled grassy sweeps contain the space of the park as terraces stepping down to the corner, concealing parking, while tipping toward Arvo Pärt Hall to address the building as a performance space. The planting consists of street trees, copses of trees on the square and various varieties of grasses. As the space is considered a place of performance, all available soft surfaces are for sitting or performing. Grasses will be selected for low maintenance and maximum durability. Sandblasted concrete pavings are interspersed with granite paving in the Square, and basalt/granite pavers in front of the square. The trees around the perimeter of the square will be consistent with the street trees of Rakvere. The new copses of trees are distinguished by being native oaks reflecting the unique forest context of Rakvere.
HERITAGE STRATEGY Our aim is to create a vital dialogue between the new building and the artefact of the Church while ensuring its place of prominence in the new Square.
Long Section Form Concept
4
FORM The three-storey main body of the new building parallels the Church with one storey links at the ground floor. The height parallels the height of the body of the Church, but recedes in plan and section to ensure the dominance of the Church frontage. The long bar building steps back behind the Church towers to allow this muscular feature to be framed by the new addition, revealing it prominently at the west. The two-storey lobby space opens to the new courtyard between the buildings. The glass wall is a giant window onto the side wall of the Church, displaying its rugged stone wall for scrutiny. At the ground level, two way reflective glass provides both a view onto the Church and a shadowy reflection of it. The tight form of the new Hall building creates an evenly matched tête-à-tête dialogue with the Church – both forms being simple, bold, unfussy. The simple form also ensures an economy of material and detail, and efficiency for heating/ cooling. The Arvo Pärt Experience Room is a tall but silent body occupying the space between – ever present in views from each of the buildings. Together, the three forms are like three different notes in a triad.
Cross-Section Concept
Plan Concept
Church Window Plan Hall Window
MATERIALS Building Exterior: White poured concrete encases the new building with tall tapering slits lined with wood on one side. The slits with their regular metre and curved shadow directly reference the width, proportion and frame prominence of the tall windows of the Church hall. The smooth concrete surface is in counterpoint to the cream coloured rugged stone wall. The rear of the new building quotes this stone wall as a freestanding wall concealing the performers parking. Links to the Church are in clear glass to allow clear views into the courtyard, the west wall of the Church and the emblematic Arvo Pärt Experience Room. This Room contrasts with both the Church and the Annex with its darkening copper sheathing – a mute surface on a sensuous form. Building Interior: The heavy stone exterior and wood interior of the restored Church are reiterated in the new building. The wood in the concrete slits are a cue to the interior treatment of cabinet-like wood walls and stairs. The existing Church’s painted wood interior will be restored, to be seen against a backdrop of deep ochre and red – colours derived from Illuminations – that will be carried in to the new building. Acoustic shells in both large and small halls will be wood veneers.
Church Window = Hall Window
5
PERFORMANCE STRATEGY BUILDING AND LANDSCAPE AS STAGE: 40/140/400/4000
Landscape and building are now joined to creating a surface of infinite possibility for performance. The building helps to activate the park at multiple scales with the building and landscape acting as stage and supporting an audience. A spirit of experimentation is encouraged by maximizing the areas for overlook between the building form and the landscape, and flexibility within the building rooms and formal halls, We imagine a place that will be a locus for students, buskers, impromptu concerts and a place where festivals can plan and experiment with indoor, outdoor, intimate, medium and extremely large concerts.
40
40 A 40-person audience is by nature informal, and easily adaptable. The cafÊ and rehearsal halls provide these kinds of informal settings in the Building, but so can the Grand Stair, the Plaza or any part of the grassy amphitheatre spaces. 140 Three spaces within the Building provide for a mid-sized concert: The third floor Music Lab (the small hall) can be used as a formal closed hall with bleacher seating. The bleacher system including the soft seating folds into a 150mm deep recess in the floor, and the surrounding sliding walls allow expansion into the third floor lobby creating a flexible swing space for performance. The choir rehearsal and dance rehearsal spaces can be joined to be a single contiguous space with a continuous sloped ceiling. Choir riser storage is accommodated in the room, and the ballet bar folds down to allow the whole room to act as a single performance space. The courtyard provides an outdoor space within the Building with the Arvo Pärt Experience Room as the back-drop for the players. The grassy amphitheatre spaces support this mid-size audience anywhere on the Square.
140
400
400 The Church hall provides the indoor venue for 400 people. Banked seating on a spiral lift system, and flexible stage risers are provided to quickly provide a flat floor and flexible space. The choir has been reinstated to allow additional seating or a choir at the rear. The Grand Stair is conceived as a stepped choir space to address a large audience on the plaza. Each of the large amphitheatre landscape spaces could accommodate this mid-sized audience. 4000 For the largest gatherings, the Plaza becomes a large stage addressing the entire landscape.
4000
6
THE ARVO PÄRT EXPERIENCE ROOM What kind of music is this? Whoever wrote it must have left himself behind at one point to dig the piano notes out of the earth and gather the artificial harmonics of the violins from heaven. The tonality of this music has no mechanical purpose. It is there to transport us towards something that has never been heard before. — Wolfgang Sandner on Tabula Rasa Enigmatic, silent, searching for unity: The Arvo Pärt room is isolated from the two main building masses as a separate building accessible by bridge at the Second Floor. Here, a small audience sits around the perimeter of a floor that hovers in the middle of a tall dark form with space above and below. The space is designed to intensify the resonance of the bass in the lower chamber, and to elevate the upper and mid-tones above, surrounding the listener with the two voices ever searching in Pärt’s music. A place this feels infinite, where one questions the boundaries of space. Like Pärt’s music, it is singular, and yet there is an infinite well of depth.
Theatre Operations The equipment described is the stage equipment proposed for the conversion of St Paul’s Church into a concert venue with as much functionality and ease of operation as is practical. Whilst we appreciate there is considerable capital investment in such equipment we believe in the long term that it will create a demand from a wide variety of users and provide flexibility with low staffing costs. Automated Stalls Seating Riser System This is a system of automated seating risers that transform the rows of the main level of the auditorium into a number of formats in a matter of minutes. The risers can be configured to provide a continuous level area for in the round or flat floor performances, they can create a variable incline or raked series of seat rows and the creation of an orchestra pit for events with musicians accompanying a stage presentation. Independent rows of theatre quality seats are hinged to hardwood floors and in turn screwed to steel structural members that are raised or lowered using a suitable minimal-height mechanism such as tubular thrust screw. Several proprietary systems are on the market. In operation, the lifting actuator columns raise every alternate row of seating with a stable selfguiding system; the seats are rotated off the rear edge of the riser, using a separate set of motors, to an inverted position. The rows are then lowered to any stepped or level configuration. Multiple riser units can be linked to the same drive train and be mechanically synchronized. In the centre of the rearmost rows, sections of the seats could be manually removed to allow the creation of sound mix or other technical control positions within the seat rows. Stage Riser System Using a combination of spiral lifts and scissor platforms, we propose to extend the concert stage into the main body of the former Church. We would incorporate a larger elevator into the platform at the south end with full travel to the basement storage levels. This could be used for the removal of grand pianos and other equipment.
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The use of tiered lifts will allow a presenter the maximum possibilities of arranging musicians, chorus and soloists to have the best playing contact with each other, with the conductor and most specifically – the audience. Blackout Blinds & Acoustic Curtains To create a blackout and to assist with controlling the room acoustics, we propose that the windows have an automatic curtain system with box pleat (double thickness) velour and a metal box frame to act as guide and lightproof enclosure at sides and top. In consultation with an acoustician, we might also require further dampening or enhancement of room reverberation with the use of tubular attenuators at a high level. Rigging Equipment Rigging points at high level capable of 500kg each will be provided for the suspension of lighting and sound equipment. These points will have to be located on/from the roof trusses in consultation with the structural engineer. The design of mounting brackets will have to be in keeping with “heritage� requirements. There will be at least four sets over the original altar area and a further five sets from the roof trusses over the main floor. Additional rigging sets could be installed at the north end for long throw lighting. Stage Managers Console/Position This is a compact control console to enable a stage manager or single qualified person to run a performance from one convenient location. It will plug into a wall mounted panel via a multi-core cable at one of four possible locations in the venue depending on the room configuration. When there are no rehearsals or performances the console can be removed to secure storage. It would also include a preset panel for ten pre-programmed lighting states and control of the stage risers so that one technician could operate an event. Lighting Positions These will be designed to afford maximum flexibility and yet retain the heritage status of the building. In addition to conventional overhead positions, we propose a number of auditorium lighting chandeliers that will include theatre style lighting fixtures focussed onto the main concert platform configuration. These can be used with a preset control to create a simple concert state without requiring technical set-up time. Performance Lighting, Sound & Video Equipment We would consult and collaborate with a number of potential users to determine the optimum levels of equipment that would be required and integrate these systems into our design approach for the whole building. Technical Equipment & Control Rooms In the main concert hall there is a control room with separate work areas to enable technicians to operate lighting, sound, projection and translation equipment in a safe, secure, temperature and humidity controlled environment. Access to the control rooms will allow for entry and egress without having to go into or through the auditorium. The sound control area would have an unobstructed and central view of the main concert stage. We would also create additional areas within the main seating for a temporary sound mix position.
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In the studio and rehearsal spaces we will create demountable control systems to allow maximum flexibility of use. Stage Accessories/Equipment A selection of stage accessories shall be provided to assist the regular operations within the concert hall and the new studio. These would normally be included in a package of fixtures, fittings and equipment. This list is an indication of the range of equipment required for a concert hall of this type: Stage drapes and masking, Portable Dance Floor, Music Equipment including pianos and music stands, Safety & Access Equipment, Stage Equipment, and Moving Equipment. Loading We believe that consideration needs to be made for the frequent changes in the programming of the performance and rehearsal venues. The wide range of events will require different levels of technical support and associated equipment. Even classical orchestras use tractor/trailers for transport of instruments, music scores and concert clothing on their tours. Modern requirements for a high level of presentation mean that even the simplest of performances travel with additional equipment that needs to be off-loaded and moved to the stage by the shortest, most direct route possible. Most deliveries to a venue of this size will be trucks 7.5 to 15 tonnes – 5 to 8m in length. On less frequent occasions tractor/trailers might be used – up to 14m in length. Loading is directly into the Loading Dock area using dock levellers to accommodate a range of trailers heights. Storage is provided at this level as well as basement level with access by a large cargo elevator. We have included the option of loading directly onto the stage platform with large sound proof wooden doors aligning with the recessed arch of the altar. The remainder of the arch area would be clad with wood to match at the interior. At the exterior, a retractable canopy would provide seasonal coverage. Signage/Event Announcement The three arched recesses in the front facade of St. Peter’s Church will be reserved for long banners announcing shows and festivals. This also signals the final conversion of the Church into a concert hall venue. There is also the possibility of a large banner on the front of Arvo Pärt Hall.
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SUSTAINABLE DESIGN STRATEGIES The Arvo Part Hall/Vabaduse Square redevelopment includes a wide variety of sustainable concepts. Further development will determine whether the Town would like to commission the building with LEED or an equivalent sustainable design scoring system. For the purposes of the design at the Competition Stage, we have assumed that this would be desired, and would incorporate as many strategies as possible including: •
Reducing the heat island effect by providing : •
Underground parking to reduce amount of black asphalt absorbing heat
•
Light coloured building to provide reflectance to the sun
•
Landscaped square with shade trees to keep area cooler on hot summer days
•
Green roof on the building and square additionally controlling stormwater runoff
•
Substantial daylighting in all day use areas – offices, rehearsal rooms, cafe, as well as the Large and Small Halls.
•
Energy efficiency will be maximized with a high performance envelope, lighting and mechanical systems including radiant heating in all floors except where there is automated seating/stage risers. We understand the building is presently connected to a district wood pellet system – This could be supplemented with a ground source heat pump in the square, taking advantage of the large open space to provide power to all of the surrounding buildings with no emissions.
•
Controls on the construction activities to control air and water pollution, erosion & sedimentation control
•
Using a minimum of 20% local materials sourced from within 800km of the site and materials with a high recycle content to minimize transportation energy, emissions and costs while encouraging a sustainable local economy.
•
Material and finish selections that eliminate emissions of indoor air pollutants
•
Natural ventilation/operable windows to ensure indoor environmental air quality in all rooms, supplemented with mechanical ventilation
•
Night sky compliant lighting including minimal up-lighting, full cut-off fixtures and minimal light trespass from the site.
•
Stormwater will be collected and stored on site in a cistern, and used for site irrigation, and sewage conveyance inside the building.
10
76.0 77.0
80.0
79.0
78.0
War of Independence monument
81.0
80.5
80.0
79.5
79.0
81.15 4%
5% 2%
80.5
entry to parking
.0 82
Koldula
iku
81.5
80.75
81.7
82.2
lev
81.5
Fu
DN
81.6 82.8
82.0
sloped grass
sloped seat wall
2%
77.5
sloped grass
.5 81
sloped grass
80.0
sloped grass
82 .5
grass amphitheatre
83 .0
80.0
77.
79.5
82.4 81.8
2.5%
3.0%
5% 8%
%
4 storey
82.5
sloped seat wall
82.0
10
parking
83 .0
0
.4 81
81.5
2%
grass amphitheatre 5
81 .6
6%
77.0
77.
5%
79.5 78.5
CONTEXT PLAN
81.0
81.5
DN
New Confidence Centre
79.0
entry to parking
78
4%
78.0
entry to parking 78
.0
Voïmla
Arvo Pärt Plaza
entry to parking 79
78.5
BUILDING AS BELVEDERE
sloped grass
.5
8%
78.4
REORIENT THE SQUARE
80.5
8%
78.5
78.5
% 2.5
.0
1%
6 storey
80.0
DN
.6 81 UP
b Va ad e
82.0
Pärt’s music is spare and polyphonic at the same time. St Peter’s Church is austere and highly textured. Our project for Arvo Pärt Hall proposes a new merged relationship between the heritage architecture of the church, the new annex and the new landscape which forms a clear and singular unity, yet is multilayered in texture, form and space to create a place that encourages planned and unforeseen performances of all sizes – a place alive with the possibility of performance. To do this, the urban strategy, landscape strategy, heritage strategy and performance strategy are in a symbiotic relationship that positions St Peter’s Church and Arvo Pärt Hall as the agent of a dynamic spatial and cultural reorganization of Vabaduse Square.
us
URBAN STRATEGY
Arvo Pärt Hall
delivery and performer parking
MODEL VIEW
SITE PLAN
SITE PARKING STRATEGY
VIEW NORTH FROM THE HALL
REORIENT THE SQUARE
OPEN SPACE
BUILT FORM
TOPOGRAPHY
REORIENT TRAFFIC
With the Arvo Pärt Hall joined to the Church and the Arvo Pärt Experience Room at the apex, the entire square is reoriented on the diagonal view to the War of Independence monument, the spire of the Church of the Holy Trinity and the mountain with Rakvere’s Fortress. The historical plan of creating a solid and contiguous street edge to formalize the square has already been undermined by the positioning of buildings on end to the square, leaving large gaps between buildings. Rather than trying to make the square into something that it is not, this project seizes the opportunity to use the resultant space and alignments to rotate the space to align with the existing topography. The new built form and new tree massing in and around the square reinforces this reorientation: the new Competence Centre mirrors Rakvere Secondary School framing the open corner of the square to the Northwest with the view to the War of Independence monument and beyond. The space between the buildings surrounding the square is drawn into the square to create a succession of sweeping amphitheatres that mirror the topography. The diagonal treed boulevards on Vabaduse and Tuleviku Streets, will be densified and renewed. The new trees, walls, Arvo Pärt Plaza, and landforms on the square follow this diagonal orientation framing this long view.
REORIENT THE BUILDING AS A BELVEDERE
“I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played.” —Arvo Pärt
Rakvere panels FINAL.indd 1
The new building sits back from the existing church allowing a grand public terrace at the second floor looking onto the new Arvo Pärt Plaza and the Square. Joining the plaza and the terrace is a ceremonial set of stairs to provide 24-hour access to the belvedere, as well as providing overlook
to the Plaza and the Square. Setting the new building mass back allows the terrace between the new and old to be oriented to the diagonal view along with the Grand Stair and Plaza.
REORIENT THE TRAFFIC Voïmla street will be closed, allowing the Arvo Pärt Hall, Plaza and landscape space of the Square to become contiguous. The resultant roadway allows access to the upper level of underground parking that is just barely recessed in the ground. Access to the lower parking area that is at grade is from Tuleviku street. These parking areas are concealed by the raised landscape amphitheatres. Roadways around the Square are narrowed to slow the flow of traffic and make the square more pedestrian friendly.
LANDSCAPE STRATEGY In contrast to the new hardscaped public square further North in the town, the new Vabaduse Square has the opportunity to provide a new kind of formal commons for the surrounding institutional and residential buildings while linking it physically and conceptually to the existing Vabaduse Park. The new Square creates a structured topography that formalizes the space with sweeps of grassy amphitheatre spaces. Rather than “leak” out the northwest corner into the Vabaduse Park, the walled grassy sweeps contain the space of the park as terraces stepping down to the corner, concealing parking, while tipping toward Arvo Pärt Hall to address the building as a performance space.
2009.07.08 02:40:57 AM
11
VIEW OF ARVO PÄRT PLAZA
sound & light
small concert hall
cafe
loading room
cloak room
dressing room
office
sound studio
dressing room
instrument tuning
green room
dance practice hall
meeting room
utilities
choir practice hall
performer parking
utilities
NORTH–SOUTH SITE SECTION
HERITAGE STRATEGIES Our aim is to create a vital dialogue between the new building and the artefact of the church while ensuring its place of prominence on the new Square.
FORM The three-storey main body of the new building parallels the church with one storey links at the ground floor. The height parallels the height of the body of the church, but recedes in plan and section to ensure the dominance of the church frontage. The long bar building steps back behind the church towers to allow this muscular feature to be framed by the new addition, revealing it prominently at the west. The two-storey lobby space opens to the new courtyard between the buildings. The glass wall is a giant window onto the side wall of the church, displaying its rugged stone wall for scrutiny. At the ground level, lightly mirrored two-way reflective glass provides both a view onto the church and a shadowy reflection of it. The Arvo Pärt Experience Room is a tall but silent body occupying the space between – ever present in views from each of the buildings.
HALL / CHURCH FORM STRATEGY
BUILDING / LANDSCAPE FORM STRATEGY
MATERIALS Exterior: White poured concrete encases the new building, with tall tapering slits lined with wood. The slits with their regular metre and curved shadow directly reference the width, proportion and frame prominence of the tall windows of the church hall. The smooth concrete surface is in counterpoint to the cream coloured rugged stone wall. The rear of the new building quotes this stone wall as a freestanding wall concealing the performers parking. Links to the church are in clear glass to allow clear views into the courtyard, the west wall of the church and the emblematic Arvo Pärt Experience Room. This Room contrasts with both the church and the Annex with its darkening copper sheathing – a mute surface on a sensuous form. Interior: The heavy stone exterior and wood interior of the restored church are reiterated in the new building. The wood in the concrete slits are a cue to the interior treatment of cabinet-like wood walls and stairs. The existing church’s painted wood interior will be restored, to be seen against a backdrop of deep ochre and red – colours derived from Illuminations – that will be carried in to the new building.
Rakvere panels FINAL.indd 2
2009.07.08 02:41:6 AM
12
UP
bench Arvo Pärt Plaza
UP
box office
lobby UP UP
dressing room
vestibule
cloakroom shower
dressing room
lobby/lounge shop
dressing room
Arvo Pärt music room lower sonic space
dressing room
retractable bleacher pit
Arvo Pärt music room lower sonic space
maestro
instrument storage
retractable terraced seating gallery
instrument tuning
performer smoking green room courtyard concert hall WC unisex
wc
instrument storage
smoking patrons storage
stage riser
storage
crawl space
UP
stage
UP
tech room
DN
piano storage
performers/service
wc UP
UP
stage access doors
utilities
retractable canopy loading area
utilities
stage storage
storage
loading
exit stair
performers' car and bike parking
UP
BASEMENT PLAN
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
music library
sound
choir/ seating
loading
lobby
stage risers
spiral lift system
SOUTH–NORTH SECTION
EAST–WEST SECTION
40
40
140
400
4000
A 40 person audience is by nature informal, and easily adaptable. The café and rehearsal halls provide these kinds of informal settings in the Building, but so can the Grand Stair, the Plaza or any Pärt of the grassy amphitheatre spaces.
The courtyard provides an outdoor space within the building with the Arvo Pärt Experience Room as the backdrop for the players. The grassy amphitheatre spaces support this midsize audience anywhere on the Square.
140
400
Three spaces within the building provide for a mid-sized concert: The third floor Music Lab (the small hall) can be used as a formal closed hall with bleacher seating. The bleacher system including the soft seating folds into a 150mm deep recess in the floor, and the surrounding sliding walls allow expansion into the third floor lobby creating a flexible swing space for performance. The choir rehearsal and dance rehearsal spaces can open into a single contiguous space with a single sloped ceiling. Choir riser storage is accommodated in the room, and the ballet bar folds down to allow the whole room to act as a single performance space.
The church hall provides the indoor venue for 400 people. Banked seating on a spiral lift system, and flexible stage risers are provided to quickly provide a flat floor and flexible space. The choir has been reinstated to allow additional seating or a choir at the rear. The Grand Stair is conceived as a stepped choir space to address a large audience on the plaza. Each of the large amphitheatre landscape spaces could accommodate this mid-sized audience.
4000 For the largest gatherings the Plaza becomes a large stage addressing the entire landscape.
BUILDING AND LANDSCAPE AS STAGE: 40/140/400/4000 Landscape and building are now joined to creating a surface of infinite possibility for performance. The building helps to activate the park at multiple scales with the building and landscape acting as stage and supporting an audience. A spirit of experimentation is encouraged by maximizing the areas for overlook between the building form and the landscape, and flexibility within the building rooms and formal halls, We imagine a place that will be a locus for students, buskers, impromptu concerts and a place where festivals can plan and experiment with indoor, outdoor, intimate, medium and extremely large concerts.
Rakvere panels FINAL.indd 3
2009.07.08 02:41:14 AM
13
public stair and outdoor stage UP
choir/seating
light & sound room
UP
DN DN
UP
UP
DN
DN
up to tower practice rooms and music library
acoustic shell above gallery terrace
UP
Arvo Pärt music room
DN
DN
light & sound above lobby/ swing space
Arvo Pärt music room upper sonic space
open to below
acoustic baffles DN
DN
café retractable bleacher seating servery
DN
café service
DN
DN
open to below DN
DN
DN
DN
wc
music hall lab UP
acoustic shell above
DN
open to below stage
wc
utilities
DN
DN
DN
bench green roof DN
storage/ possible organist
UP
organ
roof
DN
green room
roof
UP
sound studio
service
retractable bar DN
instrument tuning open office dance practice hall UP
open office
meeting
retractable sliding doors
UP
exit stair
choir riser storage
DN
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
VIEW OF MAIN LOBBY
choir practice hall
open to choir practice hall below
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
NORTH ELEVATION
VIEW FROM NORTHEAST
VIEW OF UPPER LOBBY Rakvere panels {FA}.indd 4
VIEW FROM SOUTHEAST 2009.07.08 07:01:27 PM
14
VIEW OF THE HALL FROM THE NORTHWEST
WEST ELEVATION
SOUTH ELEVATION
EAST ELEVATION
THE ARVO PÄRT EXPERIENCE ROOM What kind of music is this? Whoever wrote it must have left himself behind at one point to dig the piano notes out of the earth and gather the artificial harmonics of the violins from heaven. The tonality of this music has no mechanical purpose. It is there to transport us towards something that has never been heard before. — Wolfgang Sandner on Tabula Rasa Enigmatic, silent, searching for unity: The Arvo Pärt room is isolated from the two main building masses as a separate building accessible by bridge at the Second Floor. Here, a small audience sits around the perimeter of a floor that hovers in the middle of a tall dark form with space above and below. The space is designed to intensify the resonance of the bass in the lower chamber, and to elevate the upper and mid-tones above, surrounding the listener with the two voices ever searching in Pärt’s music. A place this feels infinite, where one questions the boundaries. Like Pärt’s music, it is singular, and yet there is an infinite well of depth.
What is it, this one thing, and how do I find my way to it? Traces of this perfect thing appear in many guises –and everything that is unimportant falls away. Tintinnabulation is like this. Here I am alone with silence… one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence, comfort me. I work with very few elements – with one voice, with two voices. I build with the most primitive materials – with the triad, with one specific tonality. — Arvo Pärt Rakvere panels FINAL.indd 5
2009.07.08 02:41:40 AM
15
16
REORIENT TRAFFIC
BUILDING / LANDSCAPE FORM STRATEGY
40
SOUTH–NORTH SECTION
NORTH–SOUTH SITE SECTION
HALL / CHURCH FORM STRATEGY
BASEMENT PLAN
VIEW OF ARVO PÄRT PLAZA
Competition Panel Layout
“I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played.” —Arvo Pärt
TOPOGRAPHY
VIEW NORTH FROM THE HALL
SITE PARKING STRATEGY
OPEN SPACE
SITE PLAN
BUILT FORM
BUILDING AS BELVEDERE
MODEL VIEW
URBAN STRATEGY
REORIENT THE SQUARE
CONTEXT PLAN
140
400
4000
EAST–WEST SECTION
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
VIEW OF UPPER LOBBY
VIEW OF MAIN LOBBY
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
VIEW FROM SOUTHEAST
VIEW FROM NORTHEAST
NORTH ELEVATION
WEST ELEVATION
VIEW OF THE HALL FROM THE NORTHWEST
SOUTH ELEVATION
What is it, this one thing, and how do I find my way to it? Traces of this perfect thing appear in many guises –and everything that is unimportant falls away. Tintinnabulation is like this. Here I am alone with silence… one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence, comfort me. I work with very few elements – with one voice, with two voices. I build with the most primitive materials – with the triad, with one specific tonality. — Arvo Pärt
EAST ELEVATION
TMRLPC