In the Fall of 2018, Penn State unveiled their new renovated recital hall on the north end of campus. This $26 million project was a much needed renovation for the music students here at Penn State. I was able to get a tour of this building through one of my architectural engineering classes in the Spring of 2019. My classmates and I were taken through the building by the building director, construction manager, and some of the engineers.
So much precision went into this building in order for it to perform how the designers intended. There is a lot of math and acoustical engineering that is involved in designing a building like this. So many components can affect how the music being performed sounds in the space. This includes where the seats are placed, the materials of everything in the room, the sound panels, and their locations.
When I visited, the director showed us three 6 ‘x 6’ sound panels that are used during performances. Just to give an idea of how much goes into acoustical design in order to produce the best sound, each of those panels cost $10,000. Likewise, a particular door that lead to the recital halls rehearsal room cost $5,000.
From an architecture standpoint this is an incredible building. It offers a different look from Penn State’s typical aesthetic and will hopefully draw more people to the north end of campus. I encourage anyone who reads this to go check it out. It offers public study spaces as well as free concerts from time to time. The director of the building also encouraged us to come to some of the $5 concerts. The exposure and money would help the music program immensely and hearing music played in that space would be incredible.
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