At its core, National Sawdust is a retooling of the 18th century chamber hall model as an incubator for new music. The design is characterized by the insertion of a highly articulated crystalline form into the rough brick envelope of a former sawdust factory. This form is comprised of an acoustically transparent but visually translucent skin, which allows sound to travel through it freely.

 

Creating a seamless, wrap-around enclosure for a wide repertoire of performances, the skin masks the variable sound absorbing, diffusing, and reflecting surfaces, as well as the state-of-the-art performance, recording, broadcast, and box-in-box isolation systems that allow the eponymous nonprofit to achieve its mission: to support new musicians, artists, and composers on their way to viable and sustainable careers.

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Photography by Floto + Warner / OTTO

 

Project by Bureau V Architecture
Role: Principal