The Music Hall Center expansion is the culmination of an extensive 2023 feasibility study. The multipurpose music center will occupy the lot adjacent to the classic 1928 Music Hall — a landmarked facility in the heart of downtown Detroit at the corner of Brush and Madison. The new facility will feature a state-of-the-art concert hall, a recital hall, recording and practice studios, leasable office space for industry professionals, and a public welcome center offering box office access to arts and cultural programming across the city.
The expansion is conceived to embody Detroit’s vibrant musical lineage and to act as a canvas to express the energy and creativity for which the city is globally recognized. Fulfilling its educational promise to the community, Music Hall Center will house a world class music academy, ensuring the city’s continued prominence as a leading training ground for remarkable musicians, composers, and artists. This work builds upon Music Hall’s decades of service to Detroit students as a provider of performing arts instruction, with some 5,000 students currently enrolled.
At the heart of the building is state-of-the-art concert venue that extends the capacity of the existing Music Hall by 1,900 seats. In addition, the center will feature a 200-seat flex-use recital hall. On the top level of the new building, sheltered by three covered outdoor terraces along the building’s edges, visitors will enjoy a rooftop restaurant and breathtaking views of the downtown skyline and the cultural corridor along Madison toward Grand Circus Park, as well as experience the liveliness spilling over from Ford Field and Comerica Park.
The building’s design will be crowned by a chamfered floating canopy, cantilevered over the sidewalks and alleyway and casting light upon the levels below. Enclosed aerial walkways will bridge the gap between the historic Music Hall and the new Music Hall Center — physically and symbolically connecting the rich legacy of the original building to the visionary new structure.
The alley between the two buildings will become part of the new urban fabric of the city, activated by generous outdoor seating, areas for public performances and art installations, and spaces for the community to gather, day and night.