Located on the corner of Southbank Boulevard and Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, Melbourne Recital Centre is purpose-built to make music sound wonderful. It comprises two of the southern hemisphere’s finest acoustic spaces. Inspired by the traditional box shape of European concert halls and the textures of musical instruments, the 1,000-seat Elisabeth Murdoch Hall is lined with striking plywood panels of Australian plantation Hoop Pine timber. Its raked stalls and circle, distinctive split-level balconies and stepped-platform ceiling enrich the strength, clarity and blending of instruments. The intimate 150-seat Salon, meanwhile, comprises a series of diffusing timber panels with tessellated plywood faces tipped in and out to form a modulated wall and ceiling. Percy Grainger’s 1937 graphic score, Free Music No. 2, is inscribed across the surface to inspire players and audiences alike.