Jerome and Celia Bertin Reich Rehearsal Building & Music Library

A Space for Artistic Collaboration and Community Spirit

Driven by a desire to best serve the needs of 21st-century musicians and the music itself, the design of the new Reich Hall stays true to the spirit of Marlboro and the ethos of Southern Vermont. HGA’s integrated team of architects, engineers, interior, lighting, and landscape designers worked collaboratively to continue this aesthetic with an acoustically sophisticated environment for festival musical rehearsals, a music library, offices, and gathering spaces.

Fully integrating Reich Hall into the steeply sloped terrain with as little site disturbance as possible was a primary design goal. The four pitched-roof forms step down with the natural slope of the landscape, with the upper and lower levels organized around south-facing outdoor “rooms” that provide space for community gathering. Marlboro is also home to one of the world’s largest collections of chamber music and required a library to help archive and preserve these works, as well as a room for study and browsing. The new music library includes archive storage; seminar seating for researchers, musicians, and students; and flexible work areas for two librarians.

Reich Hall also integrates several sustainable design initiatives, discretely hidden within the architecture to spotlight the building’s beauty and the surrounding landscape. Features include LED lighting, a passive solar gains strategy, a green roof, operable windows that provide natural ventilation, and native plantings. Additionally, an energy-efficient geothermal well field provides chilled and hot water through a radiant floor and fan coil system.