The central challenge when adding to an historic site: how much intervention can be added without the original losing its significance? In the case of the Irish cult music venue Connolly’s of Leap, it is critical that expansion includes maintaining the original atmosphere of history and intimacy. Themes of nature are furthermore essential to Connolly’s, where music and earth have been intertwined since the beginning due to its location at the foot of a hill near a waterfall.The venue expansion carves fully into the hill, allowing the earth to shape the signature curve of the new stage while managing the impact of the visible footprint.The curvilinear forms are further inspired by wind and string instruments crafted with inner-spaces to affect their resonance and quality of sound.To preserve the rich spirit of the place, the interior bar and the familiar historical façade remain untouched, while new forms and programs add life, vibrancy, and capacity to the venue.A new viewing tower acts as an anchor point, providing views to the waterfall and outdoor concert stage, serving as a beacon to signal the exciting changes to the venue, and providing a vertical expression of the harmony of earth and music.