A Friday (5/30) post at the London-based website Cmuse.org reports, “After four years of construction, a striking concert venue and music school”—The House of Music—“has been officially unveiled in Aalborg, Denmark [which] claims to be ‘one of the quietest spaces for symphonic music in Europe.’ Designed by Austrian firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, this multifunctional center is a marvel of solar passive design and features a south-facing facade covered with thin-film photovoltaics that help to reduce its energy use. With a 1,300-seat concert hall, auditoriums, public courtyards and sustainable design features … [the space] is organized around the concept of sharing and synergy…. Through multiple observation windows, students and visitors can look into the concert hall from the foyer and the practice rooms and experience the musical events, including concerts and rehearsals…. Water-filled hypocaust pipes in the concrete floor slab are used for cooling in summer and heating in winter. The concrete walls around the concert hall act as an additional storage capacity for thermal energy.” The Aalborg Symphony Orchestra and the Orkester Norden are among the ensembles that perform in the space, which also serves the music departments of Aalborg University and the Royal Academy of Music.
Posted June 3, 2014
