Sage Gateshead
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The Sage Gateshead by Foster + Partners
Nigel Young Download Original
Shell-like roof of steel and glass covering a 1650 seat orchestra hall, music school, rehearsal rooms, recording studios, bars, restaurants and ancillary spaces
Gateshead comprises three halls, and each is a standalone concrete structure; structurally and acoustically isolated from the surrounding space. The concrete frames are filled with dense blocks, with this thickness allowing for greater acoustic integrity. The halls share communal circulation spaces (intending to encourage osmosis between music lovers) as well as a small open plan green room.
The orchestral auditorium is timber lined with paneling fixed to concrete and block walls. Acoustic curtains are placed along the walls and baffle panels on the ceiling can be adjusted to suit performances. The space is designed so that the 400-seater round will be close to the stage.
The ground level shares an entrance level with space for ticket sales and queues. Then the first storey houses a bar and café area, changing rooms, and administration offices.
The music school is an underground cavern, with natural light coming from the north over the concrete up stand wall, and light filtering from the floors above given that the floors do not reach the external frame. Inside, curved corridors guide visitors through the rehearsal rooms.
Data
- Begun: Apr 2002
- Completed: Jul 2003
- Floor area: 17,500m2
- Sectors: Arts and culture, Education
- Total cost: £70M
- Address: The Sage Gateshead, St Mary's Square, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 2JR, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Foster + Partners
- Client: North Music Trust, Gateshead Metropolitan, Borough Council, Folkworks , Northern Arts, Northern Sinfonia, Arts Council of England
- Consultant: Davis Langdon & Everest
- Stage Engineering, Lighting and Sound: Theatre Projects Consultants Limited
- Lighting consultant: Equation Lighting
- Consultant: Lerch Bates and Associates
- Consultant: Burdus Access Management
- Consultant: Winton Nightingale
- Consultant: Desvigne & Dalnoky
- Acoustic consultant: WSP Acoustics
- Main contractor: Laing Construction
- Consultant: Space Syntax Laboratory
- Structural engineer: Fulcrum Consulting/ WW
- Services engineer: Fulcrum Consulting/ WW
- M&E engineer: Mott MacDonald
- Services engineer: Mott MacDonald
- Structural engineer: Arup
