2010 CHRG Summer Institute Session I Multi-Purpose Space Acoustics: A Multi-Form Approach (Case Study) Damian Doria, Artec Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities Good morning. I ʼ m Damian Doria, with Artec Consultants. Over the course of sessions this week you ʼ ll lean a lot about different types of performances and the various things we do to optimize the spaces that support their presentation. Most performing arts forms developed within an architectural form -- churches, courtyards, throne rooms, etcetera. For centuries, as the needs of various art forms became more refined, almost all halls built to house performing arts were constructed as single-purpose spaces -- concert halls, opera houses, theaters. The multipurpose hall developed out of a need to accommodate multiple art forms within a single facility, largely to save the cost of building multiple venues that suited only one tenant each. In this presentation, I ʼ d like to discuss with you an approach to accommodating a wide range of natural acoustic performances within a single auditorium that can be reconfigured into several different forms -- a room type we and others in our field refer to as Multi-Form. To help explain the value and advantages of this approach, I ʼ ll describe a bit of history and concentrate the on a case study for a new multi-form space that ʼ s under development in downtown Orlando, Florida. But first a brief (and hopefully entertaining) history of performance space forms according to Artec. I say according to Artec so that any of our colleagues here with their own historical insights will feel free to share their knowledge and opinions.
Te “Classic” Concert Space Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities Both Concert Halls and Opera Houses originated as long, narrow, high, parallel-sided spaces. Chairs were setup on one end of a room and the performance took place on temporary raised platforms on the other end. Concert Halls never changed much in shape (until more recent decades) although shallow balconies were added along the sides and rear of the hall. Mostly, the musicians were setup in the same space as the audience -- a single volume. (Nilla Androvandi)
Te “Classic” Operatic Space Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities The opera house evolved along with the vogue for ever more elaborate scenery for court masques and operas. The original portable, temporary stage platform was gradually transformed into the fully-equipped scenic machine of the stagehouse we ʼ re familiar with today.
Te “Classic” Opera Space Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities And increasingly, the stagehouse was a separate volume (often larger than the auditorium). Though, the orchestra remained more or less in the same volume as the audience.
Te Basic Multipurpose Teater Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities In North America prior to WWII, arts institutions served a rather narrow segment of the population. However, as the population became more affluent and mobile focus on the Arts became more integral with American Life and at the same time growing expenses led existing Arts institutions to seek out broader bases of support. By the end of the 1950s, there was burgeoning growth in amateur activity in the performing arts. By the mid-1960s, professional organizations in theatre, music, and dance had developed and many communities needed to house these organizations in one facility due to the high cost of providing multiple venues for tenants that wouldn ʼ t fill a year with performances. Inherent in these early multipurpose halls were compromises which meant that these facilities were never able to provide the best possible acoustics for each arts discipline. In these examples (one in Oregon and one in Michigan), the orchestra is located in a shell to cut of the stagehouse upper volume, but they ʼ re also upstage of a proscenium, essential in a separate volume from the audience. So, the theatrical form, which was generally optimized for manipulation of scenery and audience sightlines to see that stage set and performers, led to the orchestra playing in a condition where the acousticians needed to design complex shells to project the orchestra to the audience and try to maintain good communication among musicians, while the orchestra and audience were largely in separate spaces.
Morsani Hall, David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa Bay, Florida Architects: D. Fred Lebensold, ARCOP Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities However, as Artec and other acoustics consultants studied the competing needs of symphonic acoustics and performance types that need a full stage and proscenium, a number of “improvements” were explored. This example, the Morsani Hall in Tampa Florida, has a 4 inch thick wooden wall that drops into place to block the entire stagehouse. The orchestra then sets up entirely in front of the wood wall, in a single volume of space that remains. Of course, there are still trade-offs. The orchestra here is pushed much farther out into the room than the stage for opera and other proscenium presentations, meaning that in order to see the downstage edge row of musicians on the extended stage in symphony mode the sightlines must be steeper or the balconies moved farther away from the proscenium. Steeper sightlines mean more absorption from audience exposed to the sound field for orchestra, while more distance from the proscenium moves the entire audience in upper tiers farther from the stage than they would be in a pure theater. So, to some extent, no matter how well the balance is struck between these parameters of steepness and distance from the action, both concert and theatrical modes still suffer some compromises.
Prudential Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA Architects: Barton Myers Associates Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities Other rooms, like this more recent multi-purpose theatre used a ceiling system that capped off the stage plus extended into the auditorium for concerts, allowing the orchestra to straddle the proscenium, at least getting the strings into the same volume as audience and providing support from an overhead reflector. The sightlines can tolerate this projection of the orchestra several seating rows into the auditorium because you don ʼ t generally need to see the foot of a musician playing at the forestage. (Tough, you might put a solo cellist on a small riser box) Here in Newark ʼ s NJPAC, a series of re-arrangeable towers can adjust the size and location of the enclosure for symphony or recitals, adding a degree of variability. The proscenium is still present, but quite wide and nearly 40 feet high. In theatrical mode the forestage element of the ceiling tips up and retracts into the ceiling and the proscenium is narrowed and lowered with flown elements.
Prudential Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA Architects: Barton Myers Associates Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities Another photo of NJPAC courtesy of the Architect (they were too nice to squeeze onto one slide).
Notingham Royal Concert Hall, Te Royal Centre, Notingham, UK Architects: RHWL (Renton Howard Wood Levin Partnership) Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities Artec and Theatre Projects Consultants have both together and separately developed halls we refer to as Multi-form spaces that take the flexible theatre idea a step further and make a large-scale conversion from a proscenium theatre format to a single volume concert space (and sometimes other formats as well). This is an early facility developed with TPC and Artec in the UK. It similar to a second space In the UK at Derngate in Northampton. The entire upstage element that creates the vertical wall behind the orchestra and seating for choir or audience can be removed and stored. So, the room appears and behaves like one volume when it ʼ s setup for symphony and has a set of flown elements that provide a proscenium in theatrical use. Here again, both symphony and theatrical works can enjoy a good sightline.
Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, Cerritos, California, USA Architects: Barton Myers Associates Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities This extremely flexible space in Cerritos was developed with TPC and Kirkegaard Associates. Here I ʼ m showing only two of the formats -- concert and proscenium theatre modes. This takes the ideas of Nottingham and Northampton ʼ s Halls a bit further, having a rigorously rectangular geometry (at least at the stage end) with quite heavy and solid looking architectural elements that tip down to form a more solid look and feel for theatre.
Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, Cerritos, California, USA Architects: Barton Myers Associates Design & Planning Services for Performing Arts Facilities In fact a number of returning guests are fooled to believe that there is more than one room purpose built in the Center. One very nice element of this room is how tall the space is for symphony since the proscenium literally goes away in that mode. It ʼ s especially remarkable when you consider the fact that its located in a seismic zone and the towers are extremely tall and would be potentially unstable in an earthquake particularly when loaded with the weight of audience members -- they lock down for safety once they ʼ re in position.
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