The Expansion Will Include 50,000 Square-Feet of Additional Event Space, On-Site Archives and Interactive Classrooms
Cleveland, OH (December 18, 2020) — The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced that Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has won its competition to design a major expansion of the famous landmark in downtown Cleveland. This is a pivotal moment for the Museum, the community and for individuals who champion education and the preservation of rock and roll history. You can see renderings of the expansion here.
“Our impact has been great on visitors, students and the community over the last 25 years, and it’s now time to expand our physical space,” said Greg Harris, President & CEO, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “We are excited to join with PAU, one of the world’s top architectural design firms, as we build on this success and look forward to the next 100 years.”
“Rock and Roll—like NASA and pizza—brings us together like few other cultural phenomena at this moment when our nation needs to come together,” said Vishaan Chakrabarti, Founder and Creative Director of PAU. “We are beyond ecstatic to have been selected by the Rock Hall to design the expansion of I.M. Pei’s heart of glass, which sits aglow upon Cleveland’s storied industrial waterfront, particularly in light of the architectural luminaries against whom we had the honor of competing. This is PAU’s stairway to heaven.”
The Rock Hall kicked off a process last year for a dramatic Museum redesign hat would bolster its library, provide new or enhanced experiences and modernize its infrastructure by adding to its existing 150,000 square-feet:
- additional 10,000 square feet for large-scale traveling exhibits
- open space for event & education programming
- on-site archives for visitors to access our unique collection
- creation of museum campus with the neighboring science center
- lakefront gathering place for Cleveland residents and Museum visitors
- interactive learning classrooms
- event spaces for indoor performances, community gatherings and private rentals
- on-site archives so visitors can access our unique pieces
While this design concept will continue to evolve, the plans represent the space and function needed to support the Museum’s growth in all aspects of the mission. This new addition will create both internal and external gathering spaces for the community to learn and celebrate together and will serve as a connector to the Great Lakes Science Center. The newly designed Museum will bring more space to engage with visitors including hosting more concerts and community events.
Work began on the 50,000 square-foot addition with the City of Cleveland in early 2019 to secure the land between the Rock Hall and the Science Center, a one-acre plot. This land can accommodate approximately 65,000 square-feet of museum expansion. The Rock Hall is already embedded into Cleveland’s landscape; as a main driver for the regional economy, it brought an estimated $240 million in economic impact on the region last year. The project shows the Hall’s unwavering faith in the future of both the genre of Rock and the City of Cleveland, as the expansion has the power to bring more visitors to the region, create more jobs at the Rock Hall, and stimulate the economy in new ways.
After submitting an RFQ to 22 world-class firms, the Hall unanimously selected PAU, along with their partners James Corner Field Operations, Cooper Robertson, and L’Observatoire International, proclaiming that the team best met the needs of the Rock Hall in terms of contemplating a building that would channel the energy of Rock and Roll, excite future visitors, inspire donors and supporters, pay homage to the existing I.M. Pei building and address the Hall’s spatial needs.
It’s a huge moment for the Hall — the expansion will fix a longstanding challenge of the building and allow for more space to host concerts and community events — and for PAU, which was selected from a very prestigious group, coming on the heels of launching plans with Ford in Detroit and being selected to design the 16 Tech Bridge in Indianapolis in another very competitive process.
With the Rock Hall, PAU will actively drive schematic designs throughout 2021. Construction will launch in early 2022 with the architect of record Robert Madison Int’l/DLR.
