As part of a larger campus initiative for the arts, Duke sought to transform its music school’s Baldwin Auditorium into an acoustically superior room for music, while retaining its iconic presence on the East Campus. Striving to incorporate key features of the building’s historic 1927 Georgian architecture into a contemporary concert hall, the design team carefully “inserted” a new, intimately shaped room into the original volume of space, preserving its symmetry while accenting the largely neglected classical dome. Our approach replaced the existing balcony with a new “wrap around” configuration, re-raked the floor, extended the stage, added a new permanent orchestra shell, and introduced a large acoustical canopy. By reducing the interior of the room, we were able to expand the lobby, encircling the auditorium on both sides. The large windows, once a feature of the room, now provide an abundance of light for the new side lobbies.

This project was designed by Pfeiffer prior to joining Perkins Eastman.