The Bing Concert Hall exemplifies the seamless integration of architecture, acoustics and technology with the goal of transforming the practice, study and experience of the performing arts at Stanford and provides a state-of-the-art venue for visiting performers as well as students. The program – the central element of which is an 842-seat vineyard style concert hall – includes a rehearsal hall, artists` suites, a music library and practice rooms. The hall is designed for unamplified musical performances, as well as spoken word, and jazz, electronic and experimental music. Variable acoustics, sound reinforcement, video projection, simulcast, and mixing and recording technologies are all incorporated. The site design responds to the arcadian quality of the surrounding Stanford Arboretum, bringing the landscape into the building so it feels more like a clearing in the woods than an urban building with hard edges. A forecourt leads to the entry portico and into the lobby of the hall, with daylight entering from all sides. Light wells encircle the concert hall volume, blurring the distinction between inside and out, while continuous glass walls open the façade to the exterior colonnades, a contemporary expression of a traditional Stanford typology. The hall is a vineyard style configuration, with seating sections split into terraces ringing the stage, creating a particularly intimate concert experience for both audience and performers. The low walls embracing each seating section are angled and articulated with wood walls whose textured surfaces strategically reflect and disperse sound. The series of large convex-shaped sails circling the hall are shaped to provide optimal acoustic reflection or absorption and are also designed as screens for video projection. Contrasting with the wood below, the lighter tones of the sculptural sail walls and ceiling cloud provide the higher region of the hall with an uplifting quality.
