Linde Center for Music and Learning, Lenox, MA
The center’s buildings boast 50-wide operable walls, sliding doors, and actuator-operated windows that allow for Tanglewood’s characteristic open-air experience.
Built to support the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Learning Institute, the Linde Center for Music and Learning functions as a music incubator for both students and visitors. Nestled into the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, the center’s four buildings sit on a ridge overlooking Tanglewood’s famed Seiji Ozawa Hall and the hills beyond, while inside, the institute’s programs foster experimentation and a deeper engagement with music, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) based in Washington, D.C.
The AIA jury for the organization's annual Education Facility Design Awards awarded a 2020 Design Excellence Award to the project designed by William Rawn Associates, Architects Inc. of Boston. The individual jury members' names can be found at
The center’s design encourages the free exchange of ideas and includes distance learning capabilities that share programs beyond Tanglewood itself.
As an educational campus, students are drawn to the center to learn from master musicians, seeking inspiration to shape their own careers in music and music education. To support that, the center’s design encourages the free exchange of ideas and includes distance learning capabilities that share programs beyond Tanglewood itself. As the newest addition to the campus, the center carefully intertwines the intensity of music creation at the highest levels with the trademark informality of the setting.
Linde Center for Music and Learning, Lenox, MA
Exterior view at night
“The connection and lineage of this project is beautiful. The open rooms recall outdoor performances traditionally held at Tanglewood.” - Jury comment
Tanglewood’s institute endeavors to expose participants to behind-the-scenes rehearsals, master classes, and dinners that are open to both artists and audience. To that end, visitors are welcome to explore and even sit in on rehearsals while retaining the connection to music and the natural environment. Much like Ozawa Hall, the center’s buildings boast 50-foot-wide operable walls, sliding doors, and actuator-operated windows that allow for Tanglewood’s characteristic open-air experience. While the center is fully air conditioned, this approach provides significant energy savings and maximizes the number of days the center can forgo air conditioning. The individual buildings are connected by a snaking walkway and are arranged around a regal, 100-foot-tall red oak tree. Each building opens onto the landscape, providing each studio with balanced daylight and sweeping views of the landscape.
Linde Center for Music and Learning, Lenox, MA
Visitors are welcome to explore and even sit in on rehearsals.
William Rawn Associates, Architects Inc.
The architects originally designed Ozawa Hall, which opened in 1994 and is widely considered one the best concert halls in America. A close relationship with Tanglewood and the orchestra allowed the team to design the center to fit the needs of the musicians and instructors. The design process was conducted over two of Tanglewood’s summer sessions, during which the arrangement of the buildings and pathway was dialed in by staking out a full-scale footprint multiple times. In just over one year of operation, the center has already begun to fulfill its mission and is allowing the orchestra to shape the future of classical music.
Project team:
Acoustics: Kirkegaard Associates
Audio/Visual: Kirkegaard Associates
Engineer – Civil: Foresight Land Services
Engineer – Geotechnical: Vernon Hoffman, PE; Gifford Engineering
Engineer – MEP: R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, LLP
Engineer – Structural: Lemessurier Consultants
Landscape Architect: Reed Hilderbrand LLC
Envelope Consultant: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Food Service: Lisa May Foodservice Design
Geothermal Feasability: Haley & Aldrich
Lighting: Lam Partners
Sustainable Design: The Green Engin
Sustainable Design: The Green Engineer, Inc.
Theater: NextStage Design
Jury:
Judith P. Hoskens, Assoc. AIA, (Chair), Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc.
Malcolm Holzman, FAIA, Holzman Moss Bottino Architecture
Dina Sorensen, Assoc. AIA, Learning Environment Project Designer & Research Liaison
Lawrence W. Speck, FAIA, Page Southerland Page, Inc.
Amy Yurko, AIA, BrainSpaces Inc.
