Santiago Calatrava became project architect in 1989, after an earlier design by Antonio Fernández Alba. Construction began in 1997, and the auditorium opened on September 26, 2003. The original budget was 30 million euros, and the article gives the total spend as 72 million euros, though one source title says 74 million.
The structure is a concrete frame with a precast concrete ribbed roof, and the arched roof varies in thickness from about 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm). Seventeen larger metal panels form the jacket, installed in 2001. Most of the surface is covered in white trencadís, with colorful trencadís on the retaining walls of the plaza.
The auditorium occupies 69,650 square feet (6,471 m²) of a 248,000-square-foot (23,000 m²) plot, divided into two halls. The Symphony Hall has 1,616 seats and a stage 54 feet (16.5 m) wide. The Chamber Hall has 422 seats. In 2011 the building was renamed in memory of Adán Martín Menis.
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