FAQ: How Much Does A New Rehearsal Hall Cost: Budgeting For Planning Music Rehearsal Facilities

Pdf version is downloadable here

Casper College Instrumental Rehearsal Hall

Across the country, music educators are making do with the facilities they inherited, often with their programs hampered by the limitations of these spaces.  Renovating or building new music facilities is an inherently complicated exercise, but it is one of our specialties at HMS Architects.  At the risk of oversimplification, here are some ballpark figures based on our current and previous projects, to educate the educators on what is involved in planning a music rehearsal facility.

Detail level of estimates

Estimates typically increase in detail level as the design progresses, and could include costs by rough overall building square footage numbers, room-by-room square footage numbers, or even detailed accounting of every element at the end of design.  However, at the end of the day, all of this is done to estimate the final bids of several contractors who have their own individual methodologies and pressures that affect their bids. 

However, for the purposes of planning projects some years in the future, here are some rough figures and considerations.

Building Efficiency

Building efficiency measures the net usable area in relation to the more commonly used gross overall building area.  This building efficiency varies by building type, but in our experience, music facilities have historically tended to be particularly inefficient, around the 40-60% range.  This means that about half of the overall building area is devoted to non-programmed spaces, including walls, chases, corridors, stairs, restrooms, janitor’s closets, mechanical rooms, etc.

It is worth noting that the building efficiency numbers will rise and fall based on which spaces count as programmed.   Here we are using one of the least forgiving definitions, for simplicity, but it is not uncommon to count restrooms or janitorial areas as programmed spaces, and that would therefore artificially bump up the building efficiency.

For reference, above is a color-coded first floor plan of the HMS-designed Casper College School of Music.   The overall area is shown in grey and black, while only the red areas are programmed spaces, only 56% of the total area, but relatively high for a performing arts facility.  This particular floor is 27,000 SF, and with the second floor above it, the building was 35,000 SF total. The cost of construction was about $12.7 million, in 2012 dollars, a relatively cost-effective $370 per square foot. It is also worth noting that this building includes a performance hall, which is outside the scope of these estimates.

Music facilities tend to be relatively inefficient for many reasons, including increased acoustical wall thickness, wider hallways, etc., that are uniquely necessary for music facilities.   In addition, this ratio will vary based on many factors, including room quantity, site constraints, program or adjacency constraints, and the skill of the architect.  However, all of these factors will historically affect the ballpark 50% efficiency value (and therefore size of the building, and the price) by about 10%. 

For example, if a department is looking for a 6,000 square foot (SF) rehearsal hall, with 3,200 SF of storage, and eight 100 SF practice rooms to round it out, it would add up to 10,000 SF net, but the building may end up being approximately 20,000 SF gross, or about 100 by 200 feet.  Conversely, if someone mentions a 20,000 SF building, there is probably only 10,000 SF of usable space in it.

Cost per Square Foot

The most common comparison of building cost is cost per square foot, usually measured by construction cost divided by gross square footage.  Based on our previous projects, and checked against other music facilities, in 2015, we expect the cost per square foot to be approximately $300-$600 per square foot in 2015 dollars for music facilities.  For the purposes of this article, we will assume $500 per square foot as a reasonable, safe, and round value.  This figure is considerably higher than most building types.  This is a result of the specialty construction necessary to address the acoustic needs of these spaces, including acoustic treatments, theatrical and recording equipment, structure for large open spaces, heavy double walls, acoustically separate structures, and sometimes even entirely separate mechanical systems within the same building.

Cost of Construction (Hard Costs)

The cost of construction is the most common cost referenced.  It is estimated by the architect, but the final cost is the actual bid cost by the contractor who will construct the building.   This price will include all of the labor, materials and profit involved in the construction of the building.

Going back to our example, at $500 per square foot, that 20,000 SF building would be approximately $10M in construction cost.

Soft Costs

This includes furniture, removable equipment, permitting, surveyors, construction testing, and professional design fees for architecture and engineering.   This cost will vary, but is usually about an additional 25% of the cost of construction. 

In our example, that would come out to an additional $2.5M.

Total Project Cost

The total project cost contains the hard cost of construction, combined with the other project soft costs. 

Going back again to our example, the project’s $10M construction cost would translate to a $12.5M overall project cost.

Inflation adjustments

It’s also important to account for inflation and cost increases when planning for future projects.  Construction is subject to market forces, and while there is some volatility, things tend to cost more in the future.

Our example $12.5M 2015 project would have cost only $11.4M only 5 years ago, in 2010, and only 10.2M 10 years ago, in 2005.  Historically, this has amounted to  2-3% a year, or a 10% increase in all costs for every 5 years, but any year could be different.   The data we have has shown an annual increase of 3-8 % in both 2013 and 2014.  This trend is expected to continue at 3-8%, depending on location, in 2015

Common Spaces

Below is a chart showing the approximate costs of common spaces.  Not every building will need every space, and certain programs may be able to easily squeeze into smaller spaces than the full-sized theoretical optimum.  Usually, programs grow from existing spaces, and can re-purpose those spaces for new uses that fit.  Every program, every site, and every need will be different per project, and every building should be carefully tailored by knowledgeable experts to meet those needs, which is why we are here.  However, these numbers should be enough to allow for some long term planning for the future of your music programs.

(As reprinted in the program for the 2015 annual conference of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans)
Pdf version is downloadable here
More about HMS-designed Performing Arts Projects
More about HMS-designed Educational Projects
More about Casper College School of Music