Heatherwick and Diamond Schmitt Selected for Lincoln Center Renovation

The announcement comes after a two-year competition that involved more than 100 "of the world’s leading architecture and design firms," per a joint statement from the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the New York Philharmonic. The statement commends the London-based studio of Thomas Heatherwik for its "extensive experience designing innovative public spaces" and Toronto's Diamond Schmitt Architects for their "specialized expertise in the design and execution of world-renowned performing arts halls."

Until 3 January, the Cooper Hewitt on Manhattan's Upper East Side is exhibiting Provocations, a major retrospective on Heatherwick Studio, which is currently working on a new pier proposed for the Hudson River near the High Line; Lincoln Center is the studio's second project in New York City. The busy studio was selected earlier this year to work with BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group on a new campus for Google in California, one of the projects highlighted in the statement.

Diamond Schmitt has worked extensively on music halls, recently completing the New Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and Maison Symphonique de Montreal, which features a pipe organ designed by Jack Diamond. The firm is currently working on performing and arts buildings in Texas, Vancouver and Ottawa.

Together the team is tasked with "reimagining the auditorium and ultimately creating a place where the architecture is at one with music" and "[facilitating] a broader, ongoing array of community activities and events," as described in the statement.

Construction of the half-billion-dollar project is expected to begin in 2019.