STA / Stavanger Concert Hall

The new concert hall plays a fundamental role in the long-term strategy to position Stavanger as an economic and cultural node in northern Europe.
In the inter-regional rivalry to attract well-educated and highly qualified manpower, the Bilbao effect has become a new weapon in the arms race for global media attention. The demands on regional capitals to become catalysts of growth and development are increasing.
Rather than considering the new concert house as an isolated architectural object along the approach to Stavanger’s harbour front, we have chosen to mobilize the architecture in order to intensify the relationship between the concert house and the city around it. Therefore, the design calls for the concert house to be developed as an extension and enhancement of the movements and activities that already flow through the site. It will also act as a music park extending out to the water and service other numerous public gathering functions. The exterior facade design transitions from horizontal surface to vertical surface through a system of “steps” which serve multiple functions. The main exterior surface of the concert hall becomes an organizer of space and interactive surface for meeting, gathering, and playing.

Awards and recognition:
2004 Golden Lion at Venice Biennale, Best Concert House