Designed by David M. Schwarz Architects, the Palladium is a 1,600-seat concert hall at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, forming the centerpiece of a $300-million master plan for the new Carmel City Center. The first and grandest section of the hall will be unveiled on January 29, 2011.
David M.Schwarz has derived design inspiration of the hall from the famous ‘La Rotonda’ villa in Italy designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The hall is four-fronted and symmetrical with a central dome reflecting the classical influence of La Rotonda built in 1566.
The Palladium concert hall is designed to house an adjustable acoustic canopy system made of space framing and large, thick shapes of glass for superior sound. Other features contributing to the high-quality acoustics and audience accommodations include a ‘single room’ design that places performers and audience in the same place; a traditional ‘shoe box’ shape, with high ceilings and massive, sound-reflecting walls; and surface detailing that creates sound reflection at different frequencies, enhancing acoustics.
The concert hall houses three sections: the 1,600-seat, 154,000 square feet Palladium concert hall opened on January 29, 2010; a 200-seat studio theater to be opened in March 2011; and a 500-seat proscenium theater called The Tarkington to be unveiled in August 2011.
The interiors feature influence of the architectural style of neo-classical, 18th-century Scottish architect Robert Adam. A raised, colonnaded entryway from the new Carmel City Center Village Green offers a dramatic entrance. Other exterior walls feature decorative symmetrical facades.
The concert hall is the chief element of the new pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use Carmel City Center development project. The scheme includes the Palladium concert hall, the Tarkington proscenium theater and a 200-seat studio theater.
The Palladium will also be home to Michael Feinstein’s Great American Songbook Collection, acting as a museum and education center by day and a concert venue by night.
The Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts has been designed by a world-class design team which includes David M.Schwarz/Architectural Services, Inc. of Washington, D.C. as design architect; Artec Consultants Inc. of New York as Acoustics and Theatre Planning Consultant; Indiana-based CSO Schenkel Schultz as Architect of Record; and Shiel Sexton, of Indianapolis, as the project’s Construction Manager.
