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Ascend Amphitheater — Ascend Amphitheater

Ascend Amphitheater, an outdoor concert amphitheater seating roughly 6,500-6,800 in Nashville's Metro Riverfront Park on the Cumberland River, opened July 30, 2015, designed by Hodgetts + Fung (design architect) with Smith Gee Studio (architect of record) and landscape architecture by Hawkins Partners; Schuler Shook designed the stage lighting, rigging, and audience seating.

VenueAscend Amphitheater
Project typeNew Building
StatusCompleted
Year completed2015

Credits

FirmRoleNote
hodgetts-and-fung Architecture design architect (principals Craig Hodgetts, FAIA, and Hsinming Fung, AIA)
smith-gee-studio Architecture architect of record / interior architect
hawkins-partners Landscape Architecture lead consultant, authored the West Riverfront Master Plan
Schuler Shook Lighting Design stage lighting and rigging infrastructure design, audience seating and sightline design, production lighting systems design
Jaffe Holden Acoustic Consulting

Description

Built on the site of the former Nashville Thermal Transfer Plant as part of an 11-acre riverfront park redevelopment, Ascend Amphitheater was the first outdoor amphitheater in the US to achieve LEED Gold. The design team's roof form draws on the shape of a Gretsch guitar amplifier. Acoustic consulting was by Jaffe Holden (per Schuler Shook's own project credit) and structural engineering by EMC Structural Engineers — not credited here as engineering is outside this index's role vocabulary. Commonwealth Development Group provided owner's-representative planning, design, and construction oversight. The project cost roughly $50 million.

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