Palace of Peace Opera House, Astana, Kazakhstan
 

On 1 September 2006 Montserrat Caballe and Montserrat Marti performed in the opening of the 1500-seat opera house in the base of the pyramid called the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, in Astana, Kazakhstan.    

the challenge

The project was a challenge in both space and time – first because it is being integrated into a large pyramid that contains cultural and educational institututions, and second because it was designed and built more quickly than any opera house in the past century. The design team were tightly integrated with contractor Sembol for the entire project, with all committed to completing a first class building in record time. In Europe the design and construction of an opera house usually takes 5 – 10 years. This project has taken less than 2 years. It has been achieved by all parties working toward a common goal, inspired by peace.  

the auditorium

Anne Minors Performance Consultants and Sound Space Design collaborated to define the concept design, the audience seating and room form and the technical performance systems for the opera house.

The 1500 seating capacity and compact geometry are designed for excellence in opera, folk music and dance. It is to be a “receiving house”, used by productions created elsewhere and toured into the building.

The auditorium is born of the heritage of the successful horseshoe shaped opera theatres, bringing the audience close to the performers, and yet giving the sound space to breathe. To develop acoustical clarity and a good balance of voice over orchestra for opera we created a auditorium with sound reflecting side walls and an audience that embraces the performers. There are only a few rows overhang between balconies, in order that everyone can have excellent sound and sightlines. Even the last row has excellent acoustics. The two wrap-around balconies define and contain the main volume of the room. This generates the perceived size of the room - both visually and acoustically - as an intimate, exciting space.

The adjustable orchestra pit is large enough to accommodate up to 85 musicians for grand opera.

Because the vertical space for the auditorium was constrained, we needed to maximise the acoustical height of the room. We developed a design without a separate attic. The structure is exposed to the sound, and an “acoustically transparent” mesh at the bottom of the trusses looks like a ceiling, but the sound passes through as if it were not there. The spectacular central oculus has been developed with substantial mass for sound insulation and fire separation.

performance sound, video and communications

Performance audio and communications allow creation of opera sound effects and reinforcement of folk music of all kinds.

the team

Acoustician: Sound Space Design

Performance sound video and communications systems design: Engineering Harmonics with Sound Space Design

Contractor: Sembol

Architect: Foster and Partners, London, with Tabanlioglu, Istanbul

Theatre Consultant: Anne Minors Performance Consultants

Structural Engineer: Buro Happold and Arche

links

http://www.hughpearman.com/articles5/pyramid.html