Natalie L. Haslam Music Center

The design of the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center begins with the desire to express the nature of music through architecture and detailing. Lyrical detailing is injected into each space through the use of pattern, light and color.

The exterior respects the University of Tennessee's iconic collegiate gothic architecture while simultaneously reflecting its immediate context: adjacency to the modern, concrete Art & Architecture building. The Music Center utilizes traditional brick and limestone while adding fritted glass with horizontal and vertical mullion extensions that create a textural rhythm.

The interiors utilize a clean palette of white, gray and natural wood with extensive use of glass, as in the glass monumental stair. Acoustic treatments appear throughout the space, including hidden behind the slatted wood in the 420-seat recital hall. The facility houses 40 faculty studios, 45 practice rooms, band room, and rehearsal rooms for choir, orchestra, percussion, and chamber music.

The building is LEED Silver, featuring an array of sustainable design techniques, including a cistern system for rainwater collection for irrigation of maximized greenspaces with drought-tolerant planting. We used energy and solar path light modeling to reduce energy use throughout the facility. The building’s program takes advantage of glass, natural light, and views.