Benaroya Hall
Downtown concert hall built for the Seattle Symphony, with three acoustically isolated performance spaces.
Benaroya Hall occupies a full city block in downtown Seattle and has been the home of the Seattle Symphony since it opened in September 1998. Designed by the Seattle practice LMN Architects, it replaced the orchestra's earlier home in the Seattle Center Opera House. The building sits directly above the Great Northern railway tunnel and beside the downtown transit tunnel, so the main auditorium rests on rubber isolation pads that separate it structurally from the surrounding shell and from vibration in the ground below.
The complex contains three performance spaces. The S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium seats about 2,500 in a narrow rectangular shoebox plan with acoustics by Cyril Harris, while the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall holds 536 for chamber music. Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center, added in 2019, is a flexible studio used for experimental and immersive programmes. A renovation of the foyers, cafe and lobby areas was completed for the 2026/2027 season, adding a welcome desk, an overlook lounge and a community room.
Highlights
- Shoebox auditorium isolated on rubber pads above two rail tunnels
- Acoustic design by the American acoustician Cyril Harris
- Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall for chamber programmes
- Octave 9 studio for experimental and immersive concerts
