Boulder-like concert hall aims to bring tourism to rural Chinese valley

Built to mirror the look and feel of rocks and mountains surrounding the valley, the new concert venue provides a mix of performance spaces

Spotted: Located in the north of the Beijing municipality, the Chapel of Sound provides both natural and manmade concerts. Built by the design studio OPEN Architecture, the venue contains multiple performance spaces and viewing platforms.

The Chapel is laid fairly open to the elements, and its design includes a range of covered and sheltered areas. When there are no musical performances taking place, the design team expects the venue to become a destination in its own right — a place from which to enjoy the surrounding natural beauty.

The concert hall is situated in a valley near a significant portion of the Ming Dynasty’s Great Wall. Made from a mix of concrete and crushed local rock, the studio used digital modelling software to maximise the building’s acoustics. In mid-November, construction teams worked in shifts to hand-finish the 24-hour long pour of concrete that created the venue’s roof. The roof is the structure’s largest flat surface.

Building is expected to restart in the spring, with the venue opening to the public sometime in the summer of 2020. In February 2019, the design earned a citation from the Progressive Architecture Awards.

Springwise has spotted an extensive range of innovations in architecture and urban design. A new high-rise in Singapore uses greenery inside and out to reduce its environmental impact, and a team of scientists have developed a biodegradable concrete alternative that uses desert sand, rather than extensively-mined beach and riverbed sand.