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Buildings
Costa Mesa's Rene and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall
(california.construction.com,
June 2006 issue)
By Greg
Aragon
A symphony takes time and patience to
compose.
The creation of the new $200 million
Rene and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Samueli Theater
in Costa Mesa is no different.
"Concert halls are buildings that
require a great deal of time to develop and construct,"
said project designer Cesar Pelli of New Haven, Conn.-based
Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. "They are large, sophisticated
structures that need to respond to the minutest elements that
will affect the sound and the pleasure of being there."
Located on 2.5 acres adjacent to the
existing Orange County Performing Arts Center, the new 290,000-sq.-ft.
project includes the 2,000-seat, acoustically adjustable Rene
and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and the 500-seat Samueli
Theater. The building will also house a music library, two
large orchestra chambers for rehearsals, eight individual
rehearsal rooms, 15 dressing rooms, and a still-unnamed public
restaurant.
The hall and theater were named after
real estate developer Henry Segerstrom, who donated $40 million
to the privately funded project in 2000, and the Samueli Foundation,
which donated $10 million in 2001.
Fluor Corp. of Aliso Viejo is serving
as the construction manager, and New York-based Artec Consultants
Inc., led by Russell Johnson, is the theatrical and acoustical
consultant.
The structure's exterior will be highlighted
by a 300-ft.-long glass façade, which flows like a
flag in the wind. The façade, ranging from 52 to 87
ft. tall, is made from of 650 panes of glass (50,000 sq. ft.)
hanging independently from horizontal mullions, with no vertical
supports.
"The idea for the [exterior] came
from the character of Orange County and its proximity to the
ocean and from the nature of the building, which is to listen
to music so that the waves of sound and the waves of the sea
reflect in some of the forms of this building," Pelli
said. "In the façade and interior, sensual forms
will make you feel like you have been completely enveloped
by the music when you are at a concert."
One of the keys to the "shoebox"-shaped
hall's professional sound will be the placement of three,
silver-leafed, acoustical canopies that will form a shimmering
ceiling, reflecting both the performers and audience below.
Hung on wire robes from the 70-ft.-high ceiling, the canopies,
which weigh a total of 86,000 lbs, range in size from 54 to
69 ft. wide and from 10 to 32 ft. long. They will be height
adjustable, depending upon the size of the performance.
Darrell Waters, Flour project director,
said working with the canopies was one of the biggest challenges
he faced on the project.
"Because of construction sequencing,
we were putting up the huge canopies at the same time the
roof was going up and at the same time we were installing
the terrazzo flooring," he added.
Waters said this forced crews to lower
the large canopy pieces through the top of the building with
a crane before the roof could be finished, which left the
new flooring and interior work vulnerable to rain and other
construction hazards. He said weekly meetings and constant
communication with the subs, along with a lot of plastic covering,
were important in coordinating a safe and steady work flow
during this part of the construction.
The concert hall will be surrounded
by a 50,000-sq.-ft. plaza, created by Berkeley-based landscape
architect Peter Walker and Partners. Designed to unify the
new center with existing facilities, the courtyard will feature
asphalt pavers, accented by white granite, in a rich chevron
pattern across the floor.
There will also be benches, grass and
a 60-ft.-across lighted fountain that will shoot water 15
ft. high. The fountain will form a turnaround for cars dropping
off at the main entrance to the concert hall and performing
arts center.
"The plaza will form the ceremonial
entrance for the performing arts center and the new concert
hall," Waters said.
Construction on the concert hall and
theater broke ground in February 2003. Grand opening ceremonies,
including a six-week festival of artists and world premieres,
are scheduled for Sept. 15.
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