Robert Gutowski Architects has been announced (with Zaha Hadid Architects and Alvisi Kirimoto) as one of the winners in the competition to design the new Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Concert Hall in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Although the top three designs of the international competition were chosen, the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region will decide in 2019 which design will be used. Robert Gutowski Architects worked with Gade & Mortensen Acoustics.

“Nevertheless the passions, whether violent or not, should never be so expressed as to reach the point of disgust; and music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music.” - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Our goal was to create a world-class concert hall that is pragmatic and built into urban life with its pulsating community programs and integrated into the city's cultural life. In our design we wanted to serve the public, the urban community, the musicians as well as the colleagues working in the background, all at the same time.

The acoustic design of the large concert hall will incorporate the latest ideas, experiences, and scientific knowledge in order to ensure optimal conditions for performing and enjoying symphonic music. At the same time, we are fully aware of the cultural and historic traditions on which classical music is based. Consequently, the geometrical shape of the symphonic hall is the “shoe box”, which for more than a century has proven to provide excellent acoustics for this genre of music. The modern “shoe box” design will ensure a rich, warm, reverberant and dynamic sound with good clarity and strong spatial envelopment to the listener. The combination of materials chosen for the hall surfaces and the detailed geometry of these surfaces will be designed to ensure a diffused but still brilliant sound.