Cincinnati’s Andrew J Brady Music Center transforms the city’s riverfront

In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Andrew J Brady Music Center aims to connect audiences with live music while transforming Cincinnati’s riverfront. Designed by GBBN, the project, which opened in mid-2021, intends to reshape how people throughout the region engage with public space on the banks of the Ohio River.

With its entrance facing the river, the venue can seat 4,400 people on three levels indoors and can host 8,800 people for the seasonal stage outdoors. Between the indoor and outdoor spaces, the Brady Center for Music can host 140 to 160 concert events a year.

The inside venue provides clear sightlines from all vantage points, whether from the floor or the balconies. That has been achieved with structural V columns that occupy less floor space and are less visually obstructive than straight, vertical columns, helping to ensure unobstructed views of the stage. The venue also includes dressing rooms, VIP spaces, and outdoor patios.

Outside, the venue features perforated, color-shifting metal panels as part of a Kolorshift system that creates a dynamic facade day or night. Called Purple Rain, the product ensures no two views of the exterior are ever the same. The center also provides multiple access points—the street, parking garage, and adjacent park—so that patrons can easily access the venue by foot, car, or shared ride.

Messer Construction poured 4,900 square feet of concrete for the stage, loading dock, and exterior areas. Fun fact: Someone who owns 2,250 albums could cover the entire square footage of the stage with their record collection.

Other Team Members:

Owner: Music Entertainment Management Inc.

Design architect and architect of record: GBBN

MEP engineer: CMTA and Veregy (formerly Dynamix Engineering)

Acoustics: Harvey Marshall Berling Associates

Structural engineer: THP

General contractor/construction manager: Messer Construction

Andrew J Brady Music Center ext — Courtesy Brad Feinknopf.

Andrew J Brady Music Center int — Courtesy Brad Feinknopf.

Andrew J Brady Music Center int 2 — Courtesy Brad Feinknopf.

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