The project consists to enable a music school, in the Can Fabra Cultural Centre’s third floor. The building was historically a textile factory. The project posed a significant challenge: to do a music school on top of a library. That supposed a great acoustic difficulty.
We had a very defined program, that give us the Higher Education School minimum requirements about classroom numbers and their surfaces. Therefore we propose a distribution based on the maximum use of available space.
All the classrooms separate 1,8m from the building’s exterior walls, allowing perimeter access, and creating a comfortable circulation around them all. It is intended to avoid contact and vibration transmission to the building.
Each classroom is formed as an independent volume, separate from the facade, the roof, the floor, and the rest of the classrooms. They also will be acoustically insulated, preventing sound transmissions between them.
When we start the proposal, we didn´t want to ignore the music spirit. After carrying out an intensive study of the musician, their needs, their learning, the instruments, and the philosophy, we tried to capture a proposal with all these conditions. Notes, rhythms, silent spaces, chords, patterns, and pentagrams, inspire us to the project.
The rooms are austere, with white and grey colors, to facilitate musician concentration. Attention to detail extends even to the visible installations, meticulously designed to maintain the acoustic insulation without any holes. This is a crucial aspect of ensuring excellent sound quality in any music-related setting. If you’re planning to create a similar space, learning about different ways to effectively soundproof a room for music can be instrumental in achieving the desired audio results. This focus on acoustics and insulation is a key factor in the success of a music school or studio, particularly when dealing with challenges like setting up in a location with potential noise distractions.
The outside classroom walls are raised with formica-colored panels. The panels are placed with a continuous rhythm on all the walls forming also a soft color gradient. They make attractive spaces appropriate for a youth students center. In the common areas, we place a slats ceiling, like a continuous pentagram or piano cords, to cover the open roof building and all the center installations.
Project Details:
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Type: Education – Public
Completion Date: 2012
Architects: Dom Arquitectura – www.dom-arquitectura.com
Client: Fundació Privada del Taller de Musics
Photography: Jordi Anguera
