The building was built on July 4, 1997. Prior to its construction, the nickname for the concert hall "Kitara" had been chosen in March 1995. The nickname is derived from "Kithara", an ancient Greekmusical instrument in the zither family, and also the term "Kita", which means "north" in Japanese.[2] The building area covers 8,383,291 m² in total, the number of floors is 3 above ground and 2 underground, and the Hokkaido Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd is the main builder for the concert hall.[2]
The building of the Sapporo Concert Hall houses a large main hall, small chamber music hall, and rehearsal rooms. A restaurant, nursery room, and museum shop are also located in the building.
The arena-style large main hall has a capacity of 28,800 m³, and installs 2,008 seats for audiences.[5] Above the main hall, a huge pipe organ is installed. The organ was manufactured by an organ builder, Alfred Kern & Fils Manufacture D'Orgues based in Strasbourg, France,[6] and annually an exclusive organ player is invited from overseas. Having 4,976 pipes, the pipe organ is modelled after needle leaved trees in Hokkaidō prefecture.[6]
The shoebox style small chamber music hall has seating capacity of 453.[7] The restaurant with terrace is located on the ground floor, and a bar, cafe, are open during the concert. The main concert hall and the small chamber music hall also have seats designed for handicapped audiences.
