Great Amber Concert Hall, a jewel for music

The Great Amber Concert Hall in Liepaja, Latvia, designed by Austrian architect Volker Giencke after the studio won an international competition in 2003, opened its doors to the wider public in November 2015. Not just for concerts but as a real cultural centre for the community.



The Romans would have said nomen est omen because the name Great Amber Concert Hall in Liepaja speaks for itself - an off-centre, slightly slanting monolith with a transparent, amber skin. It sits between the Baltic sea and an internal lake, for all the world looking as if it has been bent by the wind that they say was born in Liepaja. This city has a population of about 100,000 and is free of ice in winter, making it an important port, as well as an amber processing centre. But on another note, it's actually the music capital of the Baltic, laying claim to one of the oldest and most renowned symphony orchestras in the zone and the location for major music festivals.





The city was determined to set itself up with a symbolic venue for both music and the city itself - an architectural landmark that provides the narrative of local traditions and the Great Amber Concert Hall designed by Austrian firm Volker Giencke & Company convinced the jury of the international competition in 2003 that its design could fulfil this role. 
So, despite the turbulent story of its construction, which suffered hugely from the world economic crisis, the multifunctional venue finally opened its doors to the public in November 2015. A jewel, not just because of its scene-stopping appearance both day and night - when it turns into a kind of lantern - but also because of the cutting edge technology adopted inside.





The Great Amber Hall contains an auditorium that seats 1024 people, a compact, 154-seat chamber music hall, the city's music school and public areas including performance venues and stages alongside bars and coffee shops. 
In sum, the Great Amber Concert Hall has been designed for the whole community, and for every age bracket and it engages its audiences both through its incredible visual impact that sits harmoniously in the urban backdrop, and for itsextremely modern concept of a multipurpose use of spaces. The fact is that the whole project focuses on expanding the venue's end uses, also thanks to the cutting edge technology of the acoustics implemented by the team, making it much more than just a concert hall for classical music





Hypothetical uses that have also been brought to life by Go VR Studio, through the virtual reality adopted to showcase the building's real potential.
The project is currently competing in the Architizer A + Awards.

Christiane Bürklein

General contractor: Giencke & Company – Latvija PR, Riga
Architect: Volker Giencke
Project: Volker Giencke & Company, Graz
Project Managemente: Petra Friedl
Acoustics: Müller BBM - Karlheinz Müller, Munich
Stage equipment: Bühnenplanung Kottke - Walter Kottke, Bayreuth
Structural engineer: Johann Birner, Graz/Austria
Building technology concept: Altherm Engineering, Hans Haugeneder, Baden/Austria
Lighting designer: Bartenbach Lichtlabor, Christian Bartenbach, Innsbruck/Austria
Landscape planning: Paul Giencke, Berlin/Germany
Partner architect: Astra & Juris Poga, Riga/Latvia
Photographer: Indrikis Sturmanis, Riga/Latvia
General Contractor: SIA Merks, Riga/Latvia
Year: Planning 2003 - opening 2015
Location: Liepaja, Latvia
Website: Great Amber Concert Hall
Link: Go VR Studio