切萨姆音乐学院扩建工程

切萨姆音乐学院是全球最大的专业音乐学校且是英国唯一的音乐学院，学校位于英格兰北部的曼彻斯特。校内古老建筑可以追溯到1421年。切萨姆音乐学校的图书馆是英国最古老的公共图书馆，也因为卡尔•马克思1845年在这里学习过而愈加著名。老图书馆在新时代已经不能满足学校需求，因此stephenson:ISA STUDIO被委托为学校的心脏建筑进行扩建。

新建筑的音乐和教学环境力为全英最先进，尽力为学生创造出一个展示自己才华的独特舞台。建筑本身也将成为代表曼切斯特教育和文化的标示建筑。

Architect: Stephenson:ISA STUDIO
Client: Chetham’s School of Music
Photographer: Daniel Hopkinson

Chetham’s School of Music is the largest world class Music School in the UK and is unique to the region. The existing medieval building contains the first public library in England, which boats amongst its’ scholars Karl Marx and is an architectural gem.  It is currently not readily accessible to the public and one of the main design principles was to create a dialogue between the existing buildings, the new school and its wider context.

场地在一个高差超过6米的坡上，建筑师利用这一个特点创造出建筑平面布局的多样性，在下层安置音乐和教学课堂，以及相关服务空间。一座高架桥从学校南部探入建筑内部，方便南部师生日常访问。建筑的造型灵感部分来自五线谱，钢琴，部分来自周围的古老建筑。

位于学校西南角的这所建筑面临了许多挑战，因为用地和面积的限制，建筑上部分便做出悬挑增加面积。因为地处城市中心，对噪声的限制要求很高，建筑内部的所有声乐教学室和表演场所都采用了独立的结构。大型音乐厅则拥有完全独立且被隔离的内部结构。

The musical heart of the School is in a building which is no longer fit for purpose and the School has outgrown its current building provision for teaching and learning through its increased success and profile.

Our brief was to create a unique contemporary new building for the musical and academic teaching facilities, providing a state-of-the-art environment which will be a fitting platform for the students.  A public auditorium will allow Chetham’s students to display their talents to the public. The building itself will provide an iconic opportunity for the educational and cultural standing of Manchester to consolidate its position on the international scene.

Architectural Response

The site varies in elevation by approximately 6m from the bottom of Walkers Croft to Victoria Station Approach.  We propose to use the height difference as a datum to reinforce the diversity of the buildings’ programme.  The performance spaces and their associated service spaces are located below the datum whilst the music and academic classroom accommodation is placed above the datum.  The main public entrance, foyer and ensemble rooms are located on the datum itself.  A new bridge link allows daily secure access for the staff and pupils from the existing school campus to the south.

The building is conceived as a carved solid, rising from the south adjacent the grade 1 medieval building, to a fulcrum above the main entrance to the north.  The form of the building reflects the fluid forms of musical instruments and the island nature of the site. The elevations are expressed horizontally and are influenced by the musical stave and pianola.

Many challenges of the site have influenced the form and structure of the building.  The river Irk runs in a culvert along the route of Walkers Croft and cuts across the site at the south western corner requiring the upper floors of the music school to cantilever substantially at this point.  Due to the city centre location and the sensitive acoustic requirements of the music teaching and performance spaces most of the internal rooms are independent floating boxes.  The Concert Hall has a complete independent internal structure floating on springs.

This is a project that sits at the core of the ambitions of the Manchester city region, which is looking to preserve and enhance its unique assets for the long-term benefit of its people.