The nationally renowned and respected MacPhail Center for Music was nearing it’s 100th birthday, and desperately needed a new home. Housed in an early twentith century department store building, the previous facility was beyond repair, did not have proper humidity control, and the instructors had difficulty teaching in some of the acoustically poor classrooms. With a new building in the revitalized Mill District, next to the Mississippi River, MacPhail wanted a building that met all their functional and budget considerations, yet expressed who they were as an organization. A rusted, Cor-ten steel box houses the superb acoustics and dancing wood forms of the new Antenello performance hall. The glass below and at the two entries gives passersby a glimpse into the music classes, and welcomes them to step inside and explore. Fifty six music studios and nine classrooms fill the tower and glass beneath the box. The new home is an instrument itself, with superior acoustics, light filled studios and classrooms, and a vibrant building that announces MacPhail as a cultural institution and destination in the city.

Principal of Conrad + Nutt Studio, Marcy Conrad Nutt, was one of the two lead Project Managers and Project Designer of the MacPhail Center for Music building while at James Dayton Design.