On the corner of Shuter and Victoria Streets in Toronto, the red-brick facade of Massey Hall has the dignity of its 19th-century origins, but inside the air hums with new electricity. Behind cast stone and stained-glass windows, KPMB Architects has completed a multi-year renovation of the 1894 concert hall. Reborn as the Allied Music Centre, the project included a renovation of the interior, a restoration of the exterior, and a 7-story addition of glass and steel that brings rehearsal rooms, recording studios, and gathering spaces into harmony with the historic venue.
Commissioned by industrialist and philanthropist Hart Massey as a secular meeting place, the venue was designed by Sidney Badgley with a Palladian exterior and a Moorish Revival interior. Its original 3,500 seats, now pared to 2,550 plush red-velvet ones, cradled audiences for performances by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Choir. The hall’s acoustics have also made it a recording landmark with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie’s Jazz at Massey Hall from 1953 and Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall 1971, tracing the resonance of the room’s scalloped plaster ceiling.
KPMB’s design was led by founding partner Marianne McKenna with founding principal Chris Couse and senior associate Graham Baxter, with restoration consulting from GBCA Architects. The team rehabilitated the building’s red-brick shell, intricate plaster canopy, and stained-glass windows that had been boarded over since the 1950s due to sound disturbances.
In the historic hall, an automated retractable floor system now allows the orchestra level to transform into a standing-room venue for more contemporary acts. Backstage, the artist facilities have been replaced with light-filled dressing rooms, lounges, and recording studios, working to create a better performer experience.
The 7-story tower of glass and corrugated aluminum was inserted in the sliver of passageway between Massey Hall and its neighbor Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre. Floating glass passerelles connect the old and new buildings, providing accessibility and views over Victoria Street. Within are rehearsal rooms, a 500-seat TD Music Hall, the Deane Cameron Recording Studio, and sleek lounges lined with oak, marble, and ribbed wood panels.
The circulatory spaces contrast the venue’s historic warm tone with black steel, veined marble, and cold finishes. Bars and ticket counters glow with light, while conference rooms and studios are open to panoramic city views.
At night, patrons are welcomed under the glow of the neon “Massey Hall” sign into a historic hall reimagined for the modern era. So much is new, yet the hall’s acoustics remain its greatest strength, now refined by Sound Space Vision and Charcoalblue, who have discreetly embedded 21st-century technology behind historic detailing.
KPMB’s Massey Hall revival works as a duet between history and innovation, red brick and glass, the lingering echo of past concerts and the vibrant hum of those still to come. “It’s still the same Massey Hall we know and love, now updated so that it can continue to be enjoyed for generations to come,” said McKenna.
