Siansa National Concert Hall

Cultural

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A truly Irish national concert hall is one that brings the atmosphere and heritage of the site with it into the future. When you enter the doors of the Siansa National Concert Hall for the first time, two important elements are retained: the intimacy and spirit of history.

The advantage of the site is its heritage. The project has a strong focus on preserving the local heritage while also adding modern elements, thus merging the best of both worlds.

The continuous transitions and flow between the various spaces represent the atmospheres of the different historical times as well as contemporary society. This also marks the smooth transition from the existing audience to a new, broader audience in the future.

The design concept locates the Symphonic Hall at the heart of the site, allowing it to become a pivotal element, conducting the entire National Concert Hall arrangement.

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Project facts

Location:	Dublin, Ireland
Client:	Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism (DAST) and the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA), Ireland
Gross floor area:	25,600 m2
Year of design:	2009 - 2010
Type of assignment:	Finalist in invited, international PPP competition
Local architects:	RKD Architects
Consortium:	Macquarie Capital Group Ltd., John Sisk & Son Ltd. and E. Pihl & Son A/S
Acoustics:	Arup Acoustics
Theatre Consultants:	Carr & Angier
Engineers:	Arup and Rambøll Whitbybird

A landmark in public space and amenity

The new courtyard of the Siansa National Concert Hall is to become one of the great civic spaces of Dublin and is the creation of openness and light, of clarity and understanding, of new and old. The space provides the surrounding functions with natural light and helps visitors to easily orientate themselves in the new environment.

With the open and light courtyard on three sides and the Iveagh Gardens on the last side, a series of interconnecting spaces of changing experiences and drama is created. The courtyard links Earlsfort Terrace with the Gardens, creates a generous entrance foyer to the auditoriums and constitutes a spatial experience connecting all public frontages of the site - making the courtyard part of the public realm.

The beauty of the Iveagh Gardens is awakened and transformed into an urban meeting place for the citizens of Dublin. The creation of a vast variety of public spaces in and around the National Concert Hall will revive public life and activity.

Outstanding acoustics

The new Symphonic Hall provides an exceptional environment for symphonic music and sets a new standard for concert hall acoustics in the 21^st century. It provides an unsurpassed concert experience. The uniqueness of the Symphonic Hall lies in its lightness and perceived fragility, creating unity and connection between art and audience in the tension and suspense created by live music.

The foundation of acoustic excellence is silence. Silence in a large concert hall is awe-inspiring in itself, but it also enables the maestro to create textures and musical nuances that would go unheard in lesser halls. Siansa's

Symphonic Hall provides this silence, but also constitutes a unique masterpiece of a hall that enables musical textures to be communicated to everyone present at a performance.

The Symphonic Hall not only supports the intimate atmosphere, but also allows for forte passages, which will exhilarate and enthral audiences. The bonds between the conductor, musicians and audience are immediate and all-involving. The finely crafted acoustics provide a marvellous blend of the musical clarity required to communicate the most delicate of musical textures and a reverberation time ensuring a rich musical and immersive listening experience.

Tonally, the sound is balanced between all registers in the orchestra: from luscious singing strings through resonant woodwind to blended brass, all supported by rich bass. Solo instruments and singers shine out with sonorous clarity through the orchestral textures.

The hall acoustics and organ work together in harmony providing a blended sound for ensembles, but also have the power to really excite in solo works. The Symphonic Hall constitutes a unique place in Ireland where listeners can engage fully in the creation and interpretation of symphonic music in an exceptional environment.

The acoustics of Siansa National Concert Hall are engineered by Arup Acoustics.