The Rady Shell
We at Fabritecture, are one of the key collaborators in the development of The Rady Shell at Jacob’s Park in San Diego, developing and supervising the design solution, manufacturing, and installation of the tensile structures.
The Rady Shell features the Symphony’s enlarged and diversified schedule of outdoor concerts and festivals. This project has a unique blend of artistic, urban, and beautiful waterfront experiences, including an outdoor performance arena on par with major concert halls and a new open-air meeting space and leisure area in the heart of Downtown.
The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, is a 3.7-acre centerpiece park and event facility created and administered by the San Diego Symphony on the city’s gorgeous Embarcadero, is the orchestra’s first permanent outdoor venue in its century-long existence. Designed to hold more than 100 concerts and activities throughout the year while providing 360-degree views of downtown, the marina, and the bay, the project was built in collaboration with the Unified Port of San Diego, with the Symphony raising 96 percent of the $85 million cost privately.
The 55,000-square-foot public area’s gentle slopes and terraced, movable seats are delineated along their borders by a low-lying barrier, protected by trees and a perimeter path, on the coast of San Diego Bay within the 3.7-acre Jacobs Park.
KEY DESIGN FEATURES
3,865 ft2 performance stage for full orchestra, outfitted with state-of-the-art acoustic technology and sound amplification, and 3,386 individually controllable Traxon LED light nodes for artist programmed light shows.
Acoustics: Salter collaborated with sound designer and consultant Shawn Murphy to build two acoustic systems for the Rady Shell. The Meyer Constellation Acoustic System uses patented digital technology that would allow artists to hear and respond to one another as well as they would in a high-end performance venue. Six perfectly positioned acoustic towers, three on each side of the stage, convey sounds to the crowd via the L-Acoustics system.
Light & Sounds Towers: Six internally illuminated towers containing Elation Professional Lighting fixtures for lighting and texturing at The Rady Shell and audience seating. Also supports delay and surround speaker arrays for enhanced audio control.
Audience Seating: 55,000 ft2 of flexible audience seating area, which seats from 3,500 to 10,000 guests.
Plaza Entrance: Dual staircase provides direct access to audience seating. Stairs are formed by architectural grade, white concrete retaining walls with a lighting wall wash.
Prebys Plaza: 12,875 ft2, open-air dining plaza with stabilized decomposed granite and overhead lighting. Theatrical lighting and power connections for intimate performances or pre-event functions.
Kitchen & Food Service: Two dining structures adjacent to the Prebys Plaza: the Street Food Pavilion, which includes a full-service kitchen with food provided by San Diego locals such as BIGA, Lola 55 and Achilles Coffee; and Urban Kitchen Market, which features a full-service kitchen with a wide selection of options from the Urban Kitchen Group.
Building Entrance: Beneath the plaza, 64 permanent restrooms and first aid room for guest use, as well as private offices.
We believe that shade has the potential to spark a better, healthier living environment and meaningful events. This is an exciting and yet another accomplishment we had worked with different collaborators. A project we are proud to be part of – as we all know this is part of the history.
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION TEAM
This project was made possible by brilliant people from various professions who are the top experts in their respective industry.
- Architect: Tucker Sadler Architects; Greg Mueller, CEO / Principal
- Performance Shell Design: Soundforms Design Partners: ES Global Ltd. / Flanagan Lawrence / Expedition
- General Contractor: Rudolph and Sletten; Howard Mills, Vice President
- Project Manager: Gardiner and Theobald Inc.; Rob Webster
- Landscape Architect: Burton Landscaping; Matthew MacLeod
- Civil Engineer: Moffatt & Nichol; Angel Cruz
- Performance Shell, Technical Design & Fabrication: Fabritecture; Jethro Jones
- Performance Shell, Engineer: Wade Design Engineers
- AV/IT/Acoustic Consultant: Salter; Tom Schindler and Jason Duty
- Audio/Sound Consultant: Shawn Murphy
- Structural Engineering: Coffman Engineers; Jim Amundson
- MEP Engineering: Robison Engineering, Inc.; Mark Robison, P.E., President
- Theater Consultant: Schuler Schook; Josh Grossman
- Lighting Designer: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design; Teal Brogden
- Hospitality: Frank O’Dea Hospitality; Frank O’Dea
- Food Service Equipment Designer: Meyer Food Service Design; Kevin McQueen
- Branding and Signage: 40/40 Creative; John Trotter
The Rady Shell is one of our award winning project at the 75th IFAI Annual International Achievement Awards in Nashville, TN USA!
FABRITECTURE
Over the last 20 years, Fabritecture has designed and constructed hundreds of highly complex projects that involve intricate steel geometry and mostly fabric cladding. In recent years, we have transferred our skills and knowledge into projects involving Architectural Metals. Fabritecture has a well-developed supply chain for delivering steel and aluminum via our Hong Kong based procurement office.
To deliver our Architectural Metals projects, Fabritecture utilizes our established in-house project management experts and systems, engineers who specialize in 3D modelling software, and selected capable suppliers around the world.
