Artfully Orchestrated

Thanks to a complete overhaul, Lincoln Center’s Juilliard Building gained thousands of square feet, including more space for The Juilliard School; a revamping of its renowned performance space, Alice Tully Hall; and a soaring new lobby and cafe. With its dramatic angled design—reminiscent of a conductor paused at the top of a crescendo, you might say—and sheets of glass, the facade captures the energy of its landmark setting on Broadway and Lincoln Square.

When Alice Tully Hall opened for the 2021 season, it was with a completely redecorated Hauser Patron Salon. “We wanted to embrace a return to normalcy and give it a look that was welcoming and glamorous,” say Katie Sutton and Alyssa Urban from the design team at New York’s Cullman & Kravis. “We chose Cambria—a material we often come back to—in the kitchen and bar area because it’s timeless and practical and helps elevate the space.”

Like many commercial spaces, the Hauser Patron Salon had to be flexible, designed to appeal to the many groups who use it, and able to be adapted to a variety of needs that serve the arts community. The design team kept the color scheme neutral, but added luxe texture for coziness and bold pops of color for visual interest. And they chose furniture that was sleek and lightweight: easy to move around the space and into storage, as necessary.

The glass-wrapped lobby feels like it’s part of the vibrant streetscape outside—and vice versa. And while the lobby, the Hauser Patron Salon, and the performance hall each have their own distinct designs, a bold approach to materiality unites them through generous swathes of stone, glass, wood, and metal and an organic modern flow.

The home of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the New York Film Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and more, Alice Tully Hall is also perched atop New York City’s rumbling subway tunnels. So while the theater’s sinuous, wood-wrapped interior might grab your attention, after the music starts thanks should go to the painstaking soundproofing (including a cork-lined asbestos pad between the theater’s foundation and bedrock, acoustical ceiling panels, and isolation of the theater’s walls from any structural columns.