The Brady Music Center

Building Architecture- Large Scale (>10,000 sf)

Project Narrative

NarrativeWithin the greater urban fabric of the city, the building is a gem in the landscape. Its design transitions pedestrians from downtown Cincinnati to the banks of the Ohio River, visually and experientially. The project uses two intertwined forms to amplify this experience and to create a dynamic tension: the black box (the performance space where people experience the music) and the white box (the public face with social areas of the venue). A third element, the veil, embraces the building, amplifying its sculptural form. A hole is strategically punched through the veil at the lobby space to help frame and focus views toward the riverfront.
The veil’s perforated, metal rib panel Kolorshift system ties all the forms together and helps further integrate the building into the city landscape. The Kolorshift rib panel system serves both a visual, interpretive role, as well as completing the outer layer of the building envelope rainscreen assembly. Metal was selected for its crisp, durable, permanent quality. The selection of the colorway “Purple Rain” from the Kolorshift system engages a varying, dynamic experience for the city from different viewing angles, capturing and performing a show of color throughout each day.
A unique element to the Andrew J Brady Music Center is the way the design compliments Cincinnati's adjacent Smale Park, creating an inviting experience to linger, socialize, and enjoy the views, before, during, and after a show...even if you never attend a show at the Brady Center, its form, plaza, and greenspace were designed to be approachable. The venue was designed with multiple access points: from the parking garage, from the adjacent park and from the Race Street turnaround, making easy access to the venue whether you arrive by your own car, Uber, or walk from downtown.

A key design consideration was preserving spectacular views of the Ohio River and The Banks as well as creating great sightlines to the performance stage. Structural V column