Sunbeams Music Center / Napper Architects

Napper Architects shared their design for the Sunbeams Music Center, a project for a charity based in England that works with handicapped people of all ages.  The project will be the first of its kind as it will offer a new music therapy center that is closely linked with its surroundings.  The Sunbeams Music Trust, a charity started almost 15 years ago by local resident Annie Mawson, “uses music in a therapeutic way to encourage communication and social inclusion, build up self-esteem, and self-confidence, and improve quality of life, making a real difference in people’s lives.”  The small charity has now grown to become one of the leading Arts In Health organizations in the United Kingdom. “We are thrilled Eden District Council has recognized that the Sunbeams Music Center will be an architecturally unique and inspirational building. Not only can Sunbeams transform the way they help people, the center is designed to enhance and work with the surrounding landscape,” explained Ms. Mawson.

More about the Music Center after the break.

The project, initially conceived for a final year thesis project in 2005 by then student and now Napper Architects employee Will Mawson, is based around “musical harmonies and the physical embodiment of the musical therapy process.”   The 515 sqm building will rest on the outskirts of the Lake District looking down the Eamont Valley on land donated by a generous local benefactor, Anthony Leeming.

The surroundings offer the “key to the success of the therapy.  The natural fall of the site allows the structure to become entrenched, maximizing passive thermal benefits of the earth.  Outdoor venues around the building will provide a tranquil atmosphere for group work and performances.

The Center has received full planning permission and the charity is now looking for funding for the estimated £1.5 million pound project, around a third of which has already been secured.