PODCASTS > Arcat Detailed Podcast Episode
154: Canted Masonry Shells | St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Powell Hall
48m 31s |
In this episode, Cherise is joined by Takeshi Tornier, AIA, Architect and Director of Snohetta’s New York Studio. Snohetta has offices worldwide. They discuss St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Powell Hall in St. Louis, Missouri.
Snøhetta’s design for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Powell Hall expansion reinterprets a century-old landmark through an architectural language of continuity and contrast. A series of canted masonry shells define the addition, their inclined planes and arched apertures referencing the rhythm and proportion of the existing structure without direct imitation.
Snøhetta’s design for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Powell Hall expansion reinterprets a century-old landmark through an architectural language of continuity and contrast. A series of canted masonry shells define the addition, their inclined planes and arched apertures referencing the rhythm and proportion of the existing structure without direct imitation.
Takeshi Tornier, AIA
Architect and Director of Snohetta's New York Studio
Takeshi Tornier is a licensed architect and Director at Snohetta's New York studio, with 20+ years of experience.
Since joining the firm in 2009, he has led diverse projects across cultural, institutional, residential, and master planning scales.
His recent work includes leading the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Renovation & Expansion, which opened in fall of 2025, and the Soundview Recreation Center in NYC.
Takeshi also led the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. Prior to Snohetta, he worked with SHoP Architects in New York and Tadao Ando in Japan.
Project Name and Location: Powell Hall
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Expansion and Modernization in St. Louis Missouri.
Snohetta led the design for the expansion and modernization of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's historic performance space, Powell Hall. To ring in the performance hall's centennial in 2025, the organization embarked on an ambitious 65,000-square-foot expansion. (Total project size is 189,130S SF).
Snohettaâs reimagining of the building and its surroundings establishes a dialogue with the past. It draws inspiration from the curved geometry of the performance hall and instruments within it, extending this playful design to the exterior.
The new building not only enhances the historic lobby, lighting it up and integrating new circulation, but its arched urban windows offer a sense of joy and creative energy within, giving a glimpse of what lies inside even before entry. The entry is shaped as a series of canted shells assembled from raked masonry, creating an addition defined by simple inclined surfaces and arched openings. Inside, a suite of new gathering areas situated within a triple-height space includes terraces that overlook one another, allowing visitors to both see and be seen while attending performances.
The project has allowed the concert hall to be more fully accessible and open to the community, creating a facility that supports and nurtures the creative process from idea to performance. At the renewed Powell Hall, a collection of public spaces work in concert with a new lobby and back-of-house to provide universal accessibility as well as educational facilities.
With a carefully integrated approach to Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Snohetta creates a new public space on axis with Grandel Square, where the balance between open and iconic results in a welcoming, sunlit plaza. Urbanistically, the space focuses energy among our neighboring arts institutions and creates a dynamic new public space that serves many functions, from a space for gathering before events, to a space that integrates vehicle drop-off further east, to a garden for the enjoyment of plants and sunlight for all passersby.
Project Team:
- Architect of Record: Christner Architects
- Theater Consultants: Schuler Shook
- Acoustics: Kirkegaard
- Civil Engineering: David Mason Associates
- Structural Engineering: KPFF
- MEP FP Engineering: McClure Engineering
- Facade Consultant: Front
- Architectural Lighting: Randy Burkett Lighting Design
- Theatrical Lighting: Theatre DNA
Unique Products:
- Masonry: Interstate Brick
- Curtain wall: Kawneer
- Metal facade/soffit panels: Pohl-facades
- Exterior entrance doors: Dawson
- Wood slat ceiling: 9wood
- Theater seats: Series Seating
