Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Concert hall | |
Capacity | 2,262 |
---|---|
Construction | |
Opened | 1991 |
Construction cost | £30 million |
Architect | Percy Thomas Partnership Renton Howard Wood Levin |
Website | |
www |
Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue in
In 2016 the
Construction
Symphony Hall was designed by Percy Thomas Partnership and Renton Howard Wood Levin, (who together formed the Convention Centre Partnership for the ICC) with specialist help from Russell Johnson, founder of acoustic consultants Artec. A particularly innovative feature is the hall's acoustic flexibility. It has a reverberation chamber behind the stage and extending high along the sides, adding 50% to the hall's volume, the doors to which can be remotely opened or closed. The U-shaped reverberation chamber area has a volume of 12,700 cubic metres (450,000 cu ft).[1] There is an acoustic canopy which can be raised or lowered above the stage. Dampening panels can be extended or retracted to ensure that the sound of the space is perfectly matched to the scale and style of the music to be performed.[6] There are also reverse fan walls at the rear of the hall which provide further reflections of sound. All the walls and the ceiling are 200 millimetres (8 in) thick and are made of concrete.[1]
The hall is built only 30 metres (100 ft) from a covered railway line. To prevent the transmission of vibrations, the hall is mounted on rubber cushions, as is the railway track. The hall is also shielded from heavy traffic on Broad Street by double skins of concrete. Large, low-speed air ducting cuts the ventilation noise.[6]
In 2001, a 6000-pipe
Through its management company B:Music Limited, Symphony Hall alongside Town Hall has charitable status and through an Education/Community department carries out a number of projects for schools, community groups and families, working with around 12,000 young people and 6,000 adults each year.[8]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7503-0213-5.
- ISBN 0-7506-4232-7.
- ISBN 0-415-14429-9.
- ^ Lubin, Gus (5 October 2016). "The 10 best-sounding concert halls in the world". Business Insider. Business Insider Inc. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ "Page\Park Architects has submitted plans for a revamp of Birmingham Symphony Hall". Architects Journal. Symphony Hall, Birmingham. 29 November 2018.
- ^ ISBN 0-240-51911-6.
- ^ "The Symphony Organ". Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
- ^ Performances Birmingham – charitable managing organisation Archived 2008-03-31 at the Wayback Machine