In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Andrew J Brady Music Center aims to connect audiences with live music while transforming Cincinnati’s riverfront. Designed by GBBN, the project, which opened in mid-2021, intends to reshape how people throughout the region engage with public space on the banks of the Ohio River.
With its entrance facing the river, the venue can seat 4,400 people on three levels indoors and can host 8,800 people for the seasonal stage outdoors. Between the indoor and outdoor spaces, the Brady Center for Music can host 140 to 160 concert events a year.
The inside venue provides clear sightlines from all vantage points, whether from the floor or the balconies. That has been achieved with structural V columns that occupy less floor space and are less visually obstructive than straight, vertical columns, helping to ensure unobstructed views of the stage. The venue also includes dressing rooms, VIP spaces, and outdoor patios.
Outside, the venue features perforated, color-shifting metal panels as part of a Kolorshift system that creates a dynamic facade day or night. Called Purple Rain, the product ensures no two views of the exterior are ever the same. The center also provides multiple access points—the street, parking garage, and adjacent park—so that patrons can easily access the venue by foot, car, or shared ride.
Messer Construction poured 4,900 square feet of concrete for the stage, loading dock, and exterior areas. Fun fact: Someone who owns 2,250 albums could cover the entire square footage of the stage with their record collection.
Other Team Members:
Owner: Music Entertainment Management Inc.
Design architect and architect of record: GBBN
MEP engineer: CMTA and Veregy (formerly Dynamix Engineering)
Acoustics: Harvey Marshall Berling Associates
Structural engineer: THP
General contractor/construction manager: Messer Construction
Related Stories
Performing Arts Centers | Aug 21, 2018
The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts receives $50 million expansion
Leo A Daly designed the expansion.
Performing Arts Centers | Mar 23, 2018
Frank Gehry selected to design Colburn School Expansion
The expansion will add three performance venues to the downtown L.A. campus.
Performing Arts Centers | Mar 15, 2018
BIG designs bow tie-shaped building for the National Theatre of Albania
The project is a 3-in-1 cultural venue in downtown Tirana.
Performing Arts Centers | Feb 20, 2018
Citrus trees inspired the design of this half-billion-dollar performing arts center
SPF:architects designed the complex.
Performing Arts Centers | Sep 11, 2017
19th century smokestack highlights a Massachusetts performing arts facility
CBT Architects and Windover Construction collaborated on the adaptive reuse project for Middlesex School.
Performing Arts Centers | Jun 30, 2017
L.A.’s John Anson Ford Amphitheater might finally be ready for its close-up
The performing arts venue, nearly a century old, has undergone an extensive refurbishing.
Performing Arts Centers | May 8, 2017
The performing arts center of the future
For more than 15 years, LPA has completed many projects for the East Central Independent School District (ECISD), and the Performing Arts Center is just one example of how a research-based, collaborative process can improve outcomes.
Performing Arts Centers | Apr 25, 2017
The ‘Chrysalis’ brings 5,000 sf of outdoor performance space to Maryland’s Merriweather Park
The stage is covered with a curving steel and aluminum-shingled shell.
Performing Arts Centers | Mar 6, 2017
An oval defines the Frank Gehry-designed Pierre Boulez Saal concert hall
The hall hosted its debut concert on Saturday, March 4 with a performance by the Boulez Ensemble.
Performing Arts Centers | Jan 17, 2017
This reimagined Globe Theatre is created primarily with shipping containers
The Container Globe would be used for theater performances, live music, and as a sculpture garden.