With its curved steel frame, fluid lines, and stainless steel exterior, the Walt Disney Concert Hall was originally deemed “unbuildable.” Now it is Los Angeles’s most iconic structure.

Home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is a campus of multiple structures and areas which are constructed on top of an operational parking structure. The Hall consists of approximately 300,000 square feet of building area over a footprint of 157,000 square feet. Areas surrounding the concert hall box provide dramatic architectural elements that define the distinctive appearance of the facility. It consists of multiple materials, including 165,000 square feet of stainless steel metal panel system, metal studs and exterior plaster, glazed curtain wall, and pre-cast concrete.

The interior of the concert hall is designed to accommodate a performance for 2,273 seats. The hall is acoustically designed with interior finishes consisting of wood acoustical clouds, wood paneling and plaster, and acoustical wall and ceiling panels. Each element of the interior is acoustically engineered, requiring that the finishes take on complex shapes that are not customary for the standard construction practices. The wood acoustical clouds have a billowing design causing multiple curves within one piece of paneling. The orchestra pit area is designed with imported exotic softwood flooring, and the glazing and wall properties have been specified to obtain the STC rating that has not previously been achieved in a concert hall.