A New Cultural Anchor at the End of Broadway

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has unveiled its design for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville. Spanning approximately 307,000 square feet, the complex will sit on the city's East Bank along the Cumberland River, positioned at the end of Broadway and facing the downtown skyline across the water.

Beyond its role as a performance venue, the building is conceived as an urban connector—bridging the established downtown with Nashville's next phase of eastward growth. BIG frames the project as 'an urban and cultural connection,' linking east and west, old and new, and the disciplines housed within.

A Facade That Plays Like an Instrument

The building's exterior is defined by aluminum tubes bent in broad arcs and stacked at varying angles. The result is a surface that shifts with light throughout the day, generating shadow and reflection as conditions change. Ingels likened the tubes to 'organ pipes or steel chimes,' a deliberate nod to Nashville's identity as Music City.

From a distance, the facade reads as a unified, continuous surface. At closer range, the repetition of individual elements resolves into fine-grained texture. At ground level, the facade lifts to create deep openings that serve as shaded entries and covered thresholds.

Open on All Sides

A central design ambition is a building that welcomes visitors from every direction. Entry points are distributed across multiple levels—from riverside paths, surrounding streets, and directly from an overhead bridge. Ingels noted the project is 'designed to be welcoming on all sides.'

The lobby is organized as a cascading series of stepped volumes rather than a single hall. Wood surfaces and layered lighting contrast with the metallic exterior, while a patterned ceiling overhead adds spatial depth. Ingels describes it as 'a cascading public space for the daily life of the neighborhood.'

Four Venues, One Envelope

The complex houses four performance venues under one roof: the Grand Broadway theater, a dance and opera hall, a flexible black box, and a cabaret space. Each maintains distinct acoustic and spatial conditions while sharing back-of-house infrastructure.

The main theater prioritizes proximity, with seating that wraps around the stage. The black box is designed for reconfiguration across performance formats, while the cabaret introduces a more intimate, informal atmosphere.

A Flowing Pavilion for the City

BIG intends the building to function not only as a venue for performance, rehearsal, and education, but also as a place to pass through and gather. Positioned along a key pedestrian corridor linking the river to downtown, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center is set to become a cultural and civic anchor for Nashville's East Bank development.