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Summary

Description

Michael Laird, 1962. Single storey music school with taller auditorium with hyperbolic paraboloid roof. Cream ashlar, some rear walls rendered.

E ELEVATION: entrance block with narrow single and bipartite windows to right, glazed portico abutting to outer right. Single storey link with main auditorium to centre with 6 large full-height glazed openings. Diamond-shaped auditorium to outer left with saddle-shaped hyperbolic paraboloid roof with glazed clerestorey area.

W ELEVATION: library-teaching room to outer left rising to fully glazed 2 storeys. Single storey link with auditorium to centre as above. Auditorium as above to outer right. Fixed windows with hardwood frames. Aluminium patent glazing to link section, auditorium roof of timber covered with aluminium.

Statement of Special Interest

The doubly-curved roof of the auditorium can be seen as an interpretation of the concrete shell structures developed during the previous decade mainly by Felix Candela and used extensively for spanning large spaces such as stadia and exhibition buildings, notable examples are the Palazetto dello Sport by Annibale Vitellozzi and Pier Luigi Nervi (1956-7) for the Rome Olympics and the TWA terminal, JFK airport, New York by Eero Saarinnen and Partners (1961-2). Laird's music school is closely related to the Church of La Capilla de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, Mexico (1955) designed by Enrique de la Mora and Fernando Lopez in conjunction with Candela.

References

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