Engineering an Opera House: the New Glyndebourne

Engineering an opera house: I L 10431 r) the new Glyndebourne Stas Brzeski Derek Sugden John Thornton John Turzy1 l\.. H'I sightlines and create the required acoustic; layout of the building is based on circular the fabric must provide good acoustic isola forms, which are used to soften its impact on tion; and the ventilation system should be the site. Recognizing that the auditorium and inaudible. Also, theatre and lighting equip stage areas have the same requirement for ment have very specific needs. (These are acoustic isolation and generate similar the technical criteria; the architectural plan widths, they are contained by an oval-shaped ning, too, has its own demands). massive brick wall, the 'fortress wall', At one Apart from the requirement that only one sea end is the auditorium, at the other the back son should be lost during construction, stage, and between lie the side and centre Glyndebourne presented another challenge: stages with the flytower above. how to relate to the House and gardens, and Around the fortress wall is wrapped the an maintain those qualities which make cillary accommodation: dressing rooms, 'Glyndebourne' unique. offices, and circulation space. Primary ser The concept vice;:; distribution is located in this zone. Whatever success the design has stems from There is a basement. The area behind the the simplicity and clarity of the overall con proscenium contains plantrooms, stage 1. Glyndebourne in 1934: Organ Room (left), cept of the building, which works for all dis Theatre (right). equipment and dressing rooms, whilst in front ciplines at all levels. The diagram may seem there is a ventilation plenum beneath the obvious but a study of other theatres soon Introduction auditorium, cloakrooms for the public, and reveals that its clarity is exceptional. Such The new Glyndebourne Opera Hou.se opened plant rooms for the front-of-house areas. The on 28 May 1994, the 60th anniversary of its simplicity is not easily achieved and relies on back stage plantrooms supply air to the predecessor, with the same opera, The the complete integration of architectural, auditorium via two huge concrete ducts. Marriage of Figaro. The original building, con engineering, and acoustic design. Instead of trying to reduce the impact of the new Opera Noisier plant such as boilers and chillers are structed by Sir John Christie in the grounds House by fragmenting it, like Glyndebourne in a separate refurbished brick out-building. of Glyndebourne House (Fig.1 above) near House itself, the Hopkins' chose to create a Lewes in East Sussex, was not only too small The rehearsal stage too is outside the main single compact building and then reduce its for current demand, but suffered from poor envelope next to the loading bay, in which visual bulk, both by cutting into the hillside acoustics and sightlines, had inadequate another stage can be built if necessary. The and through the detail of the design. ventilation, and sub-standard back stage contours of the site are such that the rehear facilities. By 1987 his son, Sir George Christie, The design is a natural consequence of sal stage is almost completely underground, had begun to plan a new Opera House; after choosing a horseshoe-shaped auditorium for revealing its presence only by a low brick wall approaching nine architects and asking two the intimate atmosphere it creates. The whole topped by a band of glazing and a lead roof. to develop proposals, he appointed Michael Hopkins & Partners early in 1989. Arups became involved in all aspects of the engi neering and acoustics design apart from Energy centre theatre equipment and production lighting. Fortress wall Bar, shop and box office The brief called for an increase in seats from 830 to 1150 and an improvement in technical Stage and Ambulatories Backstage \J flytower over standards. Sir George Christie was quite 2. clear, however, that music, theatre, and an Concept intimate atmosphere took precedence over diagram. technology. He did not want a building where the technology became an end in itself. Basement - Clarity and integration plant room The design of an opera house is complicated. The problems of long spans over stage areas Rehearsal and the support of balconies and flytower are stage obvious, but there are many more: the form and detail of the auditorium must give good 3. The new Opera House looking westwards toward the South Downs. 3 Bri,ckwork and the fortress wall cities built houses onto the outside of Outside the fortress wall, exposed precast Glyndebourne House is a collection of mellow cathedrals and castles. This structural prin slabs with an in situ topping are supported on redbrick and stone buildings with gardens ciple reinforces the architectural concept. precast beams which span between the and lake, set in the Sussex Downs. The new fortress wall and brick piers. The outer ends •The Hopkins' work places great emphasis on Opera House not only had to relate to these of the beams appear through the walls and the honest use of materials, but brickwork in physical characteristics, but also recreate the piers to make the construction legible and large contemporary buildings is normally particular ambience which Glyndebourne add detail lo the brickwork. Brick spandrel has. In part this is created by the setting and relegated lo a cladding skin or a facing for panels span between the piers as flat arches precast units. This Is betrayed in the bonding the tradition of picnicking in evening dress in carrying their self-weight. Precasting was patterns. the use of the bricks in unlikely situ the gardens. It also lies, like the picnic, in the chosen both for speed and for quality of contradiction between sophistication and ations. and lt1e location of mastic-filled move finish; also, in the case of the accommodation simplicity. In the old Opera House a complex ment joints. These are required by the expan structure, its form reflects the use of timber sion of brickwork and the lack of flexibility of art was performed at its highest level in a and cast iron in earlier brick buildings. The building which could best be likened to a modern cement monars as much as by the concrete mix was selected for its light colour need to absorb differential movements be large church hall. Some people were con and contained a mica-rich sand to give it tween frame and cladding . Nevertheless cerned that its acoustic qualities should not sparkle. Precast panels were also used to such joints would have undermined the visual be lost but these in fact were poor with a dry form the ceiling over the auditorium and integrity ol the load-bearing structure and led sound and noise from aircraft using Gatwick. create the recessed lighting gallery. These to difficulties in detalling. They would also elements play an essential role in the audito Early in the design the architects considered have been difficult to locate structurally and using flint walling, a local material. but settled rium acoustics: apart from providing the mass undesirable acoustically, so the older tech necessary as part of the double-skinned on brick as more appropriate. The hand nology of lime putty mortar. which is more made bricks not only related its construction acoustic enclosure, their sculpted form tolerant of movement. was adopted. The rellects and diffuses sound. to the House, they also introduced a quality other distinguishing feature of modern brick and scale of detailing which further reduced work,. bonding patterns resulting from cavity Above the precast units, the primary roof its impact and recreated the simplicity of the construction, was avoided by building solid. structure consists of radial steel trusses old building. cantilevering into the centre from the peri Auditorium, ancillary meter where they are supported on the The fortress wall required mass to achieve its accommodation and roofs acoustic performance and, apart from under balcony columns and tied-down by the fort Within the auditorium the balcony structures ress wall. Above the trusses are double the flytower, the vertical loads are not particu are of exposed precast concrete units larly high, since above basement level the skinned, lead-covered plywood panels. The stitched together by an in situ spine beam, mass of the lead and build-up of the panels is building consists of single-storey spaces with balanced on a ring of columns. and re long-span roofs. or three-storey accommoda used for acoustic insulation. The trusses for strained at the back by the fortress wall. (This the back stage are also radial, but in this tion. This led to the idea of constructing the follows the same structural principles as the fortress wall out of load-bearing brickwork, case the centre of the system lies on the back Mound Stand and Compton and Edrich Stands wall of the flytower rather than over the space. double-skinned around the auditorium itself at Lord's.) for acoustic isolation. It was then logical to Continued on p.9 add the enclosing accommodation as a The exposed thermal mass helps to smooth dependent structure, in the way mediaeval temperature fluctuations in the auditorium. 5. Main entrance (Organ Room in Glyndebourne 1J1o House is on the left). Bricks and mortar <II\ 4. Brickwork detail on arch The bricks had to be similar to those employed at Glyndebourne for its An arch was constructed at CERAM's used in Glyndebourne House. as well good water-retention properties, laboratories using the chosen bricks as satisfying engineering require workability and availability. It is pro and lime putty mortar in the agreed ments, and their selection involved duced by hydrating or slaking the bonding pattern. The arch was but considerable research.

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