National Concert Hall, Palace of Arts

Színpad (March 2005)

As the design and planning consultants for the new National Concert Hall at Muvészetek Palotája, Artec Consultants Inc provided specialist consulting services to the building owner in acoustics, theatre planning, and the design and accommodation of performance equipment systems. Artec collaborated with the architect, Zoboki Gábor; the building owner; and the other members of the team to design the best possible environment for music performance.

At the center of our process is the creation of the ideal relationship between the artists and the listeners; this includes shaping of the orchestral platform, arranging the seating areas for comfort and sightlines, and ensuring optimal acoustics for the entire range of musical works that will be performed. Artec worked closely with the owner and the architect, at each stage of design, to ensure the comfort and optimal satisfaction of both artist and audience; each party must be able to see, hear, and move comfortably to provide, and feel, a thrilling performance experience.

Beyond the auditorium, Artec guided the design layout of the public spaces so that the audience arrives at their seats in the best possible frame of mind. The comfort of the artists is also of particular importance because Artec has long recognized the impact this has on the artists’ ability to truly focus on the making of music. Technical support areas need to be designed so that the facility can operate in the most efficient and effective manner. Finally, the performance systems must efficiently and safely meet the needs of not only the expected range of concerts, but also many additional types of events.

Designing an auditorium for world-class acoustics is a challenging endeavor. Basic shaping considerations - positioning of architectural features (walls, ceiling, balconies, etc.) in relation to the platform, distribution of the seating areas, and the specification of appropriate construction materials are the key to achieving a great concert hall. Starting from the preliminary conceptual design presented by TriGránit and Zoboki Gábor, Artec’s Russell Johnson led the team in developing a Basic Design that defined these architectural elements in a way that would achieve the appropriate acoustics quality and seat-count, and also accommodate other basic project requirements within the available space on the site.

Artec draws upon two fundamental sources of inspiration in the development of a basic design. The first are the wonderful European concert halls built before 1905, which are beloved by music connoisseurs around the world, for example: Musikvereinssaal in Vienna, Austria, Boston Symphony Hall in the United States, the Tonhalle in Zurich, Switzerland, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The second are Artec’s own family of concert halls. Artec consultants spend a considerable amount of time each year studying halls in both of these groups, listening and comparing their architectural features to deepen and refine their understanding of the characteristics that make an exceptional space for music performance.

The complete absence of noise is a prerequisite for excellent acoustics. Noise is defined as any unwanted sound - during a performance, any sound not produced by the performer is “noise”. From the outset of the project, Artec worked closely with building engineers to ensure the appropriate level of “quiet” in the auditorium. The presence of background noise serves not only as an annoyance to audience and performers, but also negatively impacts the clarity and richness of the sound; the ease of concentration and communication among performers; the length and apparent loudness of the reverberant sound as it dies away; and the range of dynamics and expression available to the musicians.

A key element in Artec-designed auditoria is adjustability. The Artec-designed adjustable seating elements and adjustable acoustics systems, along with the rigging and production lighting systems, are integral aspects of the National Concert Hall in Budapest. They provide flexibility in the support of different experiences. The design of appropriate and effective performance equipment systems is vitally important to the overall success of the concert hall.

Each Artec project is developed by a team of consultants - a team that includes consultants with specialist knowledge in the design of theatre (performance) equipment, theatre planning, noise and vibration control, building isolation, and room acoustics - working together to design the performance equipment systems. The theatre planning consultant(s), responsible for the overall technical design of the performance equipment, works closely with the acoustic consultant(s) on the size and placement of equipment, on the materials used to build the equipment, and on the features of the computer interface that will control the equipment systems.

The orchestra platform of the concert hall is designed to accommodate music ensembles of all sizes, from recital groups, to the large ensembles required by Mahler, Bruckner and modern day composers’ large-scale works. The system is composed of three platform lifts (at the forestage are a platform reduction and platform extension lift; a chorus wagon lift is at the rear of the platform). Each forestage platform lift is designed to accommodate mobile seating wagons with permanently mounted audience seats, thus, the platform can be made larger or smaller and seat-count of the hall increased or decreased, depending on the needs of the performing ensemble. At the rear of the platform, a different type of mobile seating wagon was designed to be accommodated on the chorus wagon lift, allowing for an extension of the permanent chorus-seating balcony accommodating a total of 140 singers. These elements were designed by Artec, not only to allow the hall’s technical staff to quickly and efficiently accommodate the entire range of performances, but also to ensure the optimal acoustics environment for the music being performed. The platform also features a piano lift.

Fixtures located throughout the three acoustic canopies, and from a surrounding truss/cyclorama location, provide Production Lighting for the concert platform in the Concert Hall. These are the primary lighting positions for most music events. Although seldom necessary, this lighting can be supplemented and augmented by theatrical performance lighting, located on the tier rails at all levels and in the front-of-house lighting cove. The three acoustic canopies and the surrounding truss/cyclorama are independently adjustable in height with regard to the concert platform. The choice and focusing of concert lighting fixtures has therefore taken into account a wide variety in height of settings for the canopies and truss, as well as covering different performance areas.

In addition to orchestra and platform lighting, other fixtures are provided for lighting of both a large and a small chorus, and still other fixtures are used to enhance or spotlight the conductor and any supporting soloists. There will be different orchestral settings and other events taking place on the concert platform. All of the lighting fixtures have therefore been circuited to individual dimmers, which makes it possible to select which fixtures will be used for each of the various orchestral configurations and canopy height settings.

The prime objective in the design is to have an abundant amount of light on the music scores so that the musicians can read the scores easily. However, lighting on the concert platform is also an important opportunity to enhance the appearance of the musicians, so that they are visually well-lit and become three-dimensional. Even and bright light on the concert platform, and the natural figure shaping and definition that comes from lights at different angles, helps the audience to delineate figures and see the individual musicians clearly. It has been observed that an audience that “sees well” also tends to feel it “hears well”.

The Concert Hall is designed with many different rigging systems to complement the different performance types possible. The canopy rigging system was designed using a multipoint suspension system rigged to two counterweight shafts on either side of the concert hall. The multipoint suspension system was used to minimize the suspension cables and the structural elements of the canopy. Access to the top of the canopy for maintenance and for adjusting the lighting instruments is accommodated with a personnel lift that descends from the attic slab and lands on top of the canopy. The lift makes access simple and saves time and labor. The concert hall is equipped with a cyclorama pipe that is rigged on a motorized winch that accommodates the hanging of a white muslin drop that could be used for colored lighting washes, patterns and various moving and projected images. The cyclorama pipe is also designed to carry concert and production lighting to complement the lighting on the canopy and throughout the room. The concert hall is accommodated with a series of penetrations in the attic slab and the canopy. These penetrations are used for temporarily rigging items above the platform, such as banners, projection screens large posters, etc.

The result of the Artec team’s collaborative design process is best illustrated by the equipment components that make up the Adjustable Acoustics system, The system used to adjust the acoustics environment in the concert hall is composed of four elements: the Acoustic Canopy (and its sub-systems); the Acoustics Control Chamber Doors and Actuators, and the sound-absorptive Acoustic Curtains and Acoustic Banners. These four motorized systems are controlled by the prime Machinery Control System with operating touch screen controls. The motorized systems are complemented by a number of manually adjustable surfaces in the hall.

Artec’s founder, Russell Johnson pioneered the concept of concert spaces with adjustable acoustics in the 1950s, when he realized that the repertoire of modern symphony orchestras often encompassed works for groups ranging from 15 to 300 (with choir) musicians. To ensure great acoustics for such a broad range of ensemble sizes, different elements of the system are adjusted to adapt the acoustics environment to the needs of the music being performed. Of course, this system also extends the possibilities of the hall to include performances of lightly amplified music, chamber music and recitals, as well as amplified speech events such as conferences.

At the official inauguration on March 15, 2005, the concert hall at the Muvészetek Palotája will join a worldwide family of concert halls designed by Artec. Symphony Hall, Birmingham (UK), Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas (USA), Sala São Paulo in Brazil, Winspear Concert Hall in Edmonton (Canada), Chan Shun Concert Hall in Vancouver (Canada), Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore, Sibelius Concert Hall in Lahti (Finland), Verizon Concert Hall in Philadelphia (USA), the Concert Hall in Lucerne (CH), and now the Budapest Concert Hall, all share a “family resemblance”, while each enjoys a uniqueness born from different circumstances, architecture, and technical characteristics. Upcoming additions to the Artec family will include concert halls in Reykjavik (Iceland), Aalborg (Denmark), Costa Mesa, California (USA), Miami, Florida (USA) and Wroclaw (Poland).