Ostrava Concert Hall（俄斯特拉发音乐厅）丨捷克

Ostrava Concert Hall

Ostrava, Czech Republic

The 1,300-seat concert hall for the city of Ostrava, Czech Republic, is the new home for the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, the leading Czech symphony orchestra. Established in 1954, the orchestra plays over fifty concerts in Ostrava annually, and frequently performs in international tours and festivals.

The new concert hall “jumps over” the existing House of Culture, preserving and renewing the original 20th-century, classical building. The new entrance hovers over a pedestrian esplanade. Its cantilevered steel structure invigorates the formerly vibrant industrial district and transports concert goers above the historic House of Culture into a new sky-lit lobby. The main concert hall is sited to face the existing park to the north, thereby minimizing noise from the boulevard to the south.

The concept of a “perfect acoustic instrument in its case” informs the new design. The main concert hall, organized in an extended vineyard type plan, is made of maple wood like a great violin and provides ideal acoustics. Architecture, like music, is an immersive experience. Therefore, this project showcases a 1:10 scale acoustic model of the future Ostrava Concert Hall, currently on display at the PLATO gallery. Built by Nagata Acoustics, the model was used for real-time acoustic testing. By emitting actual sounds into the model, acoustic specialists could simulate and fine-tune the reverberation, clarity, and spatial sound behavior before construction.

The model accurately replicates the geometry and materials of the future hall. It’s part of a long tradition of using physical acoustic models to ensure world-class acoustics in concert halls. The public can visit the model at PLATO and experience how the concert hall will sound.

In order for the hall to have excellent acoustic parameters, it was necessary to simulate real acoustic conditions. Therefore, a 1:10 scale model of the interior of the Concert hall was created

Czech composer and namesake of the Philharmonic Leoš Janáček’s theories of time give order to the concert hall’s interior geometry. Acoustic wall panels are organized according to Scasovani, or rhythm, in three variants Znící = sounding Sčítací = counting Sčelovací = summing Sound-absorbing scratch coat plaster and raw crinkled concrete complement the sonic and haptic experience.

Efficient interconnections between the two structures allow the old and new to work in harmonic symbiosis. In addition to the new main hall of 1,300 seats, other venues include the theater hall (490 seats) and multifunctional chamber (515 seats). The education center (with a capacity of 200) and lecture multifunctional hall (120 seats) expand the Philharmonic’s educational and public programs. A recording studio, spaces for leisure activities and facilities, cafes, restaurants, and lounges further enrich visitor experience before and after the show.

Glass walls and skylights infuse the building with natural light and lessen reliance on nonrenewable energy. Visitors are embraced within a light-filled ambient environment that changes organically throughout the day and seasons. At night, the space casts soft light onto the esplanade and park.

The concert hall is geothermally heated and cooled via 120 wells. The new ecological architecture points to Ostrava’s future and is a driving force of the city’s strategic plan to revitalize public and cultural space in the city center while positioning Ostrava as a global music destination via a new iconic landmark for the Czech Republic.

In 2018, the City of Ostrava took a major step: an international architectural competition with a clear goal–to breathe new life into the site and the current cultural house and to create an adequate cultural and social facility in Ostrava with world-class acoustic, technical and architectural parameters. These requirements were met by the project of the studio of the world-famous architect Steven Holl. I believe that the positive impact of this project, which is unprecedented in the Czech Republic, will be crucial for the development of Ostrava. Ostrava will indelibly put itself on the cultural map of Europe.

Jan Žemla, Director of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava.

Client

City of Ostrava for the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra

Location

Ostrava, Czech Republic

Years

2023–2027

Size

139,932 sf new building; 215,280 sf renovation

Status

Construction

architect

Steven Holl Architects

Steven Holl (principal)

Dimitra Tsachrelia, Lirong Tan (project architect)

Olaf Schmidt (associate in charge)

Filipe Taboada, Sarah Schlegelmilch, Paul Hazelet, Maxwell Funk, Apostolos Gredis (design team)

associate architects

Architecture Acts

Hana Petrikova, Martin Kropac (principal)

Klara Zugarova, Miarianna Antoniadoi, Hana Hucikova, Tiziana Tasca, David Lasek (design team)

acoustical consultant

Nagata Acoustics

structural engineer

Silman

sustainability

TRANSSOLAR Energietecknik GmbH

theatre consultant

Theatre Consultants Collabrative

traffic

Jan Fiala

fire protection

Petr Havlicek

Timeline

‘The Architectonics of Music’ Lecture by Steven Holl and Dimitra Tsachrelia with Ostrava Mayor Jan Dohnal July 25, 2024

Ostrava Concert Hall Receives Over 100 Million Euros of Public Funding July 24, 2024

Ostrava Concert Hall Groundbreaking July 23, 2024

Ostrava Concert Hall Groundbreaking Livestream July 17, 2024

Steven Holl and Dimitra Tsachrelia Lecture at Colours of Ostrava Festival July 19 July 8, 2024

Ostrava Concert Hall Breaking Ground Summer 2024 June 25, 2024

Ostrava Concert Hall Enters Next Phase February 27, 2024

STEVEN HOLL PRESENTS OSTRAVA CONCERT HALL IN MUNICH October 5, 2023

STEVEN HOLL UPCOMING LECTURES IN NEW YORK AND MUNICH September 18, 2023

PHASE I SITE WORK AT OSTRAVA CONCERT HALL September 7, 2023

Ostrava Concert Hall building permit issued April 20, 2023

Ostrava Concert Hall is scheduled to break ground in September 2022 February 23, 2022

Snow Happening: Outlining the Ostrava Concert Hall February 10, 2021

Ostrava Concert Hall Given the “Go Ahead” by Ostrava Mayor Tomas Macura January 10, 2020