San Diego Symphony Orchestra Performance Shell
Client
San Diego Symphony Orchestra/Soundforms
Location
San Diego, USA
Status
Complete
Performance Shell Design Soundforms with Flanagan Lawrence, Expedition and ES Global
Architect (Lead Architect and Architect of Record)
Tucker Sadler
Project Manager
Gardiner & Theobald
Structural Engineer
Coffman Engineers
Landscape Architect
Burton Studios
Acousticians
Charles M Salter
Sound Consultant
Shaun Murphy
Constellation Sound System Design
Meyer Sound
Theatre Consultant
Shuler Shook
The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, which opened on 6th August 2021, has been developed through a collaboration between the San Diego Symphony and leading design and construction experts.
Soundforms, as designer of the performance shell, has been a key partner in the design process. Soundforms and its London partners Flanagan Lawrence, Expedition and ES Global designed the award-winning mobile acoustic performance shell (MAPS) for the 2012 London Olympics. Working together with Tucker Sadler Architects, Soundforms expanded the design to accommodate a large orchestra with chorus and soloists as a permanent structure on the Embarcadero Marina Park South site.
Tucker Sadler Architects is lead designer and architect of record of this state-of-the-art venue. Greg Mueller, the firm’s CEO and Design Principal, has been involved with the project from its inception 18 years ago. He and his team have been responsible for The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park as a whole, encompassing the performance shell, backstage artist support spaces, three professional kitchens, underground restrooms, a gracefully sloped seating area for up to 10,000, and a park open to the public on one of the most beautiful settings between San Diego Bay and the San Diego skyline.
“We are thrilled to see our shell finally realised in this remarkable setting. But we’re even more excited that the shell’s acoustics – for both orchestra and audience – is as superb as we intended. The Rady Shell achieves our core objective – to bring world class acoustics to outdoor performances.”
Jason Flanagan, Design Director of Flanagan Lawrence and Partner of Soundforms
“The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park is a gift to the tidelands and the entire San Diego region. First and foremost, we have created a venue with superb acoustics that is stunning, a postcard for San Diego”
Martha Gilmer, CEO of the San Diego Symphony
Sound Consultant Shawn Murphy worked closely with San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer and the entire design team to ensure the creation of the best possible acoustic environment. Berkeley-based Meyer Sound designed the signature Constellation System, used here in its first outdoor installation, which creates an onstage acoustic equivalent to the high standard of indoor concert halls.
The combination of the shell design with Salter’s acoustic panelling, the Meyer Constellation system and the custom designed L-Acoustic surround reinforcement system, has created the best possible acoustic experience for performers, which translates across a wide range of musical genres into an extraordinary sonic experience for audiences.
Another key partner in creating the performance shell is the Australia-based company Fabritecture, who developed and oversaw the technical design, fabrication and installation of the tensile structure of the performance shell, as well as the backstage support spaces, executive kitchen, the box office and two dining pavilions.
Two further design partners are HLB, responsible for the architectural lighting design, and Schuler Shook, designers of the theatre lighting and rigging.
