Bronfman Auditorium
Following a selection process, our office was elected to renovate the home of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Bronfman Auditorium project, ordered by the Tel Aviv municipality and the orchestra management, is intended to enhance the audio-visual qualities of the hall, improve and renew the lobbies, and the building’s facades, and to equip it with systems and apparatus suitable for contemporary performance quality. The building was intended to open after renovations in the 2006 concert season, on the 70th anniversary of the orchestra and its conductor, Maestro Zubin Metha, but due to statutory procedures, the project was delayed, and later scrapped.
The design work resumed in 2009 in a new configuration. this is the most complex conservation project our office has handled. in the process of the design, a coalition of conservation organizations was formed, creating impossible working conditions. A municipal committee was formed and was engaged in supervising our work. It is supposed to approve every detail, from the screws used in chairs to the general design of the renovated hall. In these conditions of lack of freedom, our office chose to resolve program-related issues by adding new floor areas at the underground level – an addition of approximately 5,000 square meters beneath the street level.
This floor, intended mostly for the improvement of the orchestra members working conditions, includes rehearsal rooms for various groups, a rest area, study and lecture rooms, and most importantly, a rehearsal hall for the Philharmonic Orchestra. all these prevented the need for changes in the iconic building that is a symbol of cultural life in Tel Aviv. The 2,500-seat hall is a multipurpose hall for a variety of performances, ranging from dance performances with scenery to large-scale concerts. In addition, a 400-seat underground multipurpose hall was designed to be used for chamber music concerts and as a rehearsal hall for the philharmonic orchestra.
The concert hall reopened for performance in 2013.
The construction of the chamber music hall reopened in 2015.
Client: Tel Aviv – Jaffa Municipality & the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra
Location: 1 Huberman Street, Tel Aviv
Area: 17,500 square meters
Photography: Amit Geron