Case Study: Zaha'a Music Hall

Striving for clarity
The process of realising the design involved architectural considerations of scale, structure and—perhaps most importantly—acoustics to develop a dynamic formal dialogue inseparable from its intended purpose as a chamber music hall.

Pivotal to its function as an architectural feature and an acoustic enhancement is the performance of the ribbon. It was designed to simultaneously enhance the acoustic experience of the concert while spatially defining a stage, an intimate enclosure and passageways.

It exists at a scale in which it is perceived as both an object floating in a room as well as a temporal architecture that invites one to enter, inhabit, explore and experience.

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FEATURED COMMENT ZHA's fantastic, sometimes too complex, we once make glass for her design ...don't want to do again ... :)   1 Comments Read more comments »

Adding to the acoustic elements are clear acrylic panels which are suspended above the stage to reflect and disperse the sound. Programmed lighting and a series of dispersed musical recordings activate the space between the ribbon during non-performance times.

“The initial part of the design involved testing the baseline acoustic response of the gallery space and looking at how this could be enhanced by the installation,” explains Mark Howarth, partner acoustician at Sandy Brown Associates.

This included investigating how the finishes and shape of the room determined its reverberation time and caused unwanted flutter echoes from sound repeatedly reflecting back-and-forth between surfaces.

The measurements also identified the level of ambient noise from external noise sources, such as road and air traffic, and from air conditioning systems within the building,” explains Howarth.

While the location of the music hall was located towards the rear of the building—protected from the noisy metro trains near its entrance—controlling the subtle but relevant noise from the building’s HVAC system remained a challenge.

According to Howarth, the gallery has strict requirements for the regulation of air temperature and humidity to help preserve the precious works it houses, which meant turning it off, or even reducing it during performances, was not an option.

Behind-the-scenes collaboration between ZHA, Sandy Brown Associates and Manchester Art Gallery staff offered a suitable reduction in ambient noise.