Future generations of concertgoers in the Orlando area will want a ticket to commemorate the moment the city’s dynamic new $612 million performance venue makes its theatrical debut at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts this Friday. 

Designed by former UCLA faculty member Barton Myers, Steinmetz Hall is a mechanical wonder made even more remarkable by the way its form can be shifted to adapt to one of the building’s myriad uses. The concert hall has a maximum seating capacity of 1,650 and consists of multiple layouts that can be applied to a variety of individual types of musical and artistic performances.

With help from Gala Systems, Myers created a series of interchangeable components that can be rearranged seamlessly according to need. A retractable acoustic shell is moved in and out of place thanks to 65 feet of track that facilitates the theater’s biggest area of public use as a concert hall. Additional space can be provided for recitals and other types of more intimate performances thanks to removable seating areas that can be stored under the theater to create a flat-floor effect. An orchestra pit, useful in opera and ballet performances, can be created by expanding the first five rows and enhanced through ceiling-mounted projection screens, air caster-supported rolling towers for the proscenium, and a “sprung” shock-absorbing floor for the dancers on stage. 

Billed as having an “acoustically perfect” N1 sound rating created by an air gap formed by a combination of more than 400 isolated rubber pads and a floating concrete foundation, the venue is actually designed to reach the lowest registers at which human ears can detect sound in a modern building. It is one of only five in the world that have similar technical capabilities and the only one in the United States that can operate in a multi-form capacity. 

"When guests come to the arts center 100 years from now, we want them to say there must have been some people involved that were very devoted to the community because this is what they created—and that is what we are most proud of," the theater’s namesakes Chuck and Margery Steinmetz said in a shared statement.

The building will be inaugurated with two weeks of programming that begins Friday with a ribbon-cutting and multi-day celebration of the local spirit featuring 250 of the city’s best musicians. Tickets to the opening performance are available for purchase here. A time-lapse video of the building's mechanical operation can be viewed below.