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.

Design: BUREAU V
Client: National Sawdust
Program: Concert Hall
Construction: Adaptive Reuse
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Active: 2008-2015

architectural photography by Floto + Warner
performance photography by David Andrako