La Maison Symphonique Montreal, QC, Canada

Built to the most exacting international standards of natural acoustics

La Maison Symphonique

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The new symphony hall in Montreal, Maison Symphonique, was born of a public-private partnership (PPP) process and is the new home of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM). Sound Space Design collaborated with Diamond Schmitt Architects / Ædifica Architects and engineer-contractors SNC-Lavalin in a design competition in 2008. After a year of design, with periodic review by Quebec’s Ministry of Culture, our design was chosen as the winner, bringing the best quality at the best price to the public of Quebec.

This new 2,100 seat concert hall is tall and narrow with multiple balconies in order to sustain resonance and involve the audience in the sound. Although not “shoebox” in form, it owes some of its heritage to this successful geometry. The acoustical design is married to the architecture of the room. The auditorium design is a layering of convex curves of varying size, yet with architectural unity. This creative collaboration brings both a richness of sound and of architecture.

The audience wraps around the performance platform, helping to balance the loudness and timbre of the orchestra, tying the performers and audience together in a unified intimate experience.

Through science, design and experience in the service of music, Maison Symphonique allows the OSM to show its true colours – timbres heard on OSM tours in great halls around the world, but previously not heard in Montreal.

Opened September 2011.

Maison symphonique
Maison symphonique
Maison symphonique
Maison symphonique
Maison symphonique