The nearly 100-year-old hall has been transformed into a modern performance venue, all while preserving the majority of its historic elements.
National interdisciplinary design firm, HGA, today announced the completion of the revitalization of San Diego Symphony’s long-time home, the Jacobs Music Center in downtown San Diego. The renowned venue’s $125 million transformation—led by HGA in collaboration with acoustician Paul Scarbrough of Akustiks and theater planner Schuler Shook—elevates musical and performance experiences for artists and audiences alike and simultaneously honors the history of the former Fox Theatre. The new Jacobs Music Center was inaugurated during its opening weekend concert on September 28, 2024.
HGA’s redesign of Jacobs Music Center transforms the historic movie theater space that housed San Diego Symphony for 40 years into a modern venue commensurate with other world-class concert halls. Key elements of the design included:
- a state-of-the-art acoustic overhaul transforming the aural experience
- a complete reconfiguration of the orchestra level seating and enhancement to seating throughout
- the careful preservation and restoration of most historic features
- and critical updates to the main mechanical and life-safety systems of the building to improve efficiency and air quality.
The design also captured significant additional area to create spaces for the San Diego Symphony to engage musicians and the public in new ways.
“We see this new venue as an investment in the artistic ambitions of the orchestra and San Diego at large,” said Martha A. Gilmer, president and CEO of San Diego Symphony.“ Just as an instrument can transform the music-making experience for an individual musician, the reimagined Jacobs Music Center serves as a new, top-of-the-line instrument that all of our musicians can enjoy together, awakening new senses and possibilities for the future of the Symphony and the community for generations to come.”
In total, the project encompassed the reimagining of 70,545 square feet of space, including performance space and back of house support spaces, as well as audience and front of house amenities. The reconfigured 22,787-square-foot audience chamber includes 862 seats on the main level with 894 seats in the balcony. The redesign created 75 additional seats available through a new opportunity above the stage in the choral terrace, for a total of 1,831 seats.
Elevating Artistic Expression
The most transformative changes to the historic hall centered around the improvement of acoustics for optimal playing and listening experiences. A custom-designed permanent orchestra enclosure, ceiling reflectors, and new orchestra risers, all tailored to the new stage, help musicians better hear their own instruments as well as those of their peers. To accomplish this, structural modifications were made to deepen the stage, raise the stage opening and enable the construction of the acoustic enclosure. This enclosure, paired with the series of 20 tunable overhead reflectors, optimizes sound distribution.
This new tunable acoustic canopy is a collaboration of theatrical, acoustic and architectural design, and it comprehensively supports artists across a spectrum of performance expressions. Acoustical “tuning chambers” and “variable acoustic” devices have been added throughout the hall to allow for the venue to be adjustable to accommodate music ranging from small chamber ensembles to full orchestra with soloists and chorus, to amplified performances. The new design also adds a choral terrace affording an expanded repertoire, comfortably accommodating larger works like Mahler’s Symphonies No. 2 and 3. The design’s flexibility also supports more intimate audience experiences for smaller works right on stage. New seating throughout the hall, and a reconfigured orchestra level, enhance the aural and visual connection between the audience and performers.
“Inspired by the original DNA of Jacobs Music Center, it’s been a pleasure to create synergy between the old and the new in its transformation,” said John Frane, AIA, design principal at HGA who co-led the project with Jim Moore, managing principal. “Alongside the San Diego Symphony organization and its musicians, we’ve been able to successfully bridge the gap between the hall’s century-long history and today’s users, creating experiences that are altogether modern while still being grounded in a rich legacy.”
Updates to the hall’s mechanical systems and re-appropriated square footage that was captured in the shoulders of the stage house have provided space for essential musician amenities, including new small ensemble rehearsal rooms, an expanded music library, dressing rooms, visiting artist spaces, a fully redesigned artist reception room and climate-controlled instrument storage. The overall reconfiguration not only opens up vital performance support spaces, it increases the amount of air and filtration and fresh air within the hall, and decreases the amount of ambient noise from mechanical systems within the performance space.
Enhancing Experiences for Patrons
Augmenting the acoustic upgrades that provide a new aural experience, additional design elements contribute to a new and improved Jacobs Music Center experience for the benefit of audience members. New seats have been installed throughout the hall in a reconfigured format that improves universal access and circulation, offers better sightlines, and completely reshapes the main seating level to remove acoustic shadowing and enhance the connection between the performers and the audience. By addressing accessibility and resiliency both universal access and programmatic capacity have been greatly improved throughout the hall. The new seating layout also allows the hall to be configured in more flexible ways, supporting a greater range and scale of varying musical works and ensemble sizes for the public to enjoy. Additionally, the overall concert-going experience has been improved with enhanced stage lighting, an improved sound system and an integrated video display system to broaden the range and quality of amplified productions in the hall.
Through reshaping the audience seating, the orchestra gained a new suite of rooms for pre-show events, recording, recitals and community education programs to better engage the public. By establishing new, dedicated ancillary spaces, the San Diego Symphony is now enabled to provide intimate music and music education for more students and families.
Preserving a Rich Legacy
Jacobs Music Center is the beloved indoor home of San Diego Symphony and a cornerstone of the cultural life of San Diego. Originally built in 1929 as The Fox Theatre, the lush movie palace became the property of the San Diego Symphony in 1984. In October 2013, the complex consisting of Copley Symphony Hall, the newly renovated lobbies, the backstage areas, the Grosvenor Family Musicians’ Center and the Symphony’s administrative offices was officially named the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Music Center.
HGA’s thoughtful redesign respects, rejuvenates and enhances the hall’s historic character, integrating and highlighting the imaginative and inspiring collection of Spanish Baroque details throughout the space. Meticulous care accompanied every aspect of the renovation to achieve these aspirations with a design logic that celebrates the hall’s legacy. New architectural elements added to support the acoustical and technical performance draw from the cadence, characters, profiles and colors of the myriad of details that envelop the hall as conceptual and formal inspiration, creating a dynamic dialogue between their respective eras.
For example, the stage and hall are each lined with a custom-formed, woven metal mesh that functionally supports acoustic excellence, while visually connecting to other historic ornamentation throughout the space. Similarly, the acoustic tuning panels are embossed with a pattern harmonious with figures and patterns found throughout the hall. Key historic elements of the space were painstakingly preserved both on and off-site, such as the original chandelier that was cleaned and repaired. Various ornamental plaster castings upon the ceiling and walls were also faithfully restored. Original materials were replicated or, as necessary, updated with modern equivalents.
“The HGA members working on this project have combined a shared passion for history and the arts with high-level technical and preservation planning expertise to tackle the complexities that accompany transforming a legacy venue on the scale of Jacobs Music Center,” said Jim Moore, principal at HGA and one of the project’s leads. “Our performing arts and historic preservation specialists have taken great care in realizing the full potential of the San Diego Symphony’s historic venue, giving it new life to support artists and delight audiences for years to come.”
In addition to Jacobs Music Center, HGA’s recent cultural projects in the region include the re-envisioned San Diego State University Performing Arts District including a new experimental theater and renovation of the 500-seat main stage, a new Gallery Building at CSU Fullerton, and a Performing Arts Complex in Santa Monica. Nationally, HGA recently completed Capital One Hall, in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
HGA served as both the design architect and architect of record as well as mechanical and electrical engineers of record. In collaboration with HGA and acoustician, Akustiks, the design and construction team included Schuler Shook, theater planning; BWE Engineers, civil and structural engineering; Bob Knight, organ consultant; Jensen Hughes, code consultant; and Cost Plus, cost consultant; Gardiner and Theobald, Owner’s Representative, and Rudolph & Sletten, general contractor.
About HGA
HGA is a national interdisciplinary design firm committed to making a positive, lasting impact for our clients and communities through research-based, holistic solutions. We believe that great design requires a sense of curiosity—forming deep insight into our clients, their contexts, and the human condition. We are a collective of more than 1,000 architects, engineers, interior designers, planners, researchers, and strategists. Our practice spans multiple markets, including science and technology, corporate, cultural, education, local and federal government, and healthcare. Visit HGA.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.
About San Diego Symphony
Founded in 1910, the San Diego Symphony is one of the largest and most significant cultural organizations in San Diego. The orchestra performs for more than 250,000 people each season, offering a wide variety of programming at its two much-loved venues, the newly renovated Jacobs Music Center in downtown San Diego and The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park™ on San Diego Bay. In early 2018, the San Diego Symphony announced the appointment of Rafael Payare as Music Director. Payare leads the orchestra’s 82+ full-time musicians, graduates of the finest and most celebrated music schools in the United States and abroad. The San Diego Symphony also serves as the orchestra for the San Diego Opera each season. For more than 30 years, the San Diego Symphony has provided comprehensive learning and community engagement programs reaching more than 65,000 students annually and bringing innovative programming to San Diego’s diverse neighborhoods and schools. For more information, visit www.sandiegosymphony.org.
HGA Media Contact
Michelle Nelsen, Public Relations Director
mnelsen@hga.com