The expansion of the Cleveland Institute of Music added 34,000 sq. ft. to the existing 1960s building.  The addition includes a new lobby, performance spaces, practice rooms, and administrative offices, all enclosed by sweeping walls of glass and cast-in-place architectural concrete.  

The main feature of the expansion project is a new 250-seat recital hall with a 40-foot-high custom-designedacoustic-control double-skin curtain wall behind the stage, framing views of a sunken garden lit at night.  

Heintges worked closely with the architect and the project’s acoustical engineer to develop an acoustic-insulating double-skin facade with sound-dampening chambers to create a unique recital hall with two fully transparent glass walls. The double-skin curtain wall consists of two layers of glass on each side of a steel-tube Vierendeel truss, extending as a clerestory around two additional sides of the recital hall. The project has been well received by musicians and audiences alike.

Heintges provided building envelope and curtain wall consulting services during all phases of design and construction.