In the hopes of someday replacing Humanities as the home of student musicians, the University of Wisconsin School of Music presented plans for a new performance center to the Urban Design Commission Wednesday.

Gary Brown, director of Campus Planning and Landscape Architecture for University of Wisconsin, said the primary focus, the initial of construction of the building and a recital hall, is just one of three phases. The second phase will be the addition of a much larger concert hall to replace the existing Mills Hall in Humanities.

The third phase, Brown said, is the final transition into the new building, which he hopes will house the music faculty for many years to come.

“In the future, there will be a third phase, which is the academic pieces of the music department coming out of Humanities, so this is our first initial throes of getting people out of Humanities,” Brown said.

The planned 325-seat recital hall and rehearsal room is “entirely funded through private philanthropy,” by anonymous donors, Cook said.

Holzam Moss Bottino Architecture of New York City is partnering with Strang Architects of Madison to design the building. Cook said HMBA is a company well known for their experience in designing architecture of the arts, Cook said.

“This has been in the works for quite awhile,” Susan Cook, director of the School of Music and Professor of Musicology, said. “It’s probably been almost a decade because different things have happened in terms of the economy and a host of things.”

With 300 undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in the School of Music, the new building will primarily be for student use. Whether it be for individual recitals or student activities, major or non-major, the recital and rehearsal hall are meant to accommodate an efficient, comfortable space for students to access and use, Cook said. An inviting lobby is also a primary focus for the project, welcoming visitors at the entrance.

The design elements of the project are unique and innovative, in hopes of filling the space next to the Chazen appropriately. Cook said she anticipates a building that will “animate the corner.”

“It will incorporate design elements that are produced here in Wisconsin. The outside of the building will be made out of poured concrete from companies in the state,” Cook said.

One concern the design commission had was parking availability when a music event overlaps with a UW basketball game, for example. Brown said the campus planning committee has been in talks with the city’s transportation department about setting aside certain lots, like Grainger and other nearby campus buildings, solely for music events.

Cook said construction of the building is expected to begin in 2015, and Brown said he hopes to submit the project to the design commission for approval sometime around November of this year.

She said she foresees this new recital and rehearsal hall to strengthen and enrich the surrounding campus and the music school’s program.

“This is not just a building,” Cook said. “It’s a building that’s becoming part of a community.”