Project Title: Hoddinott Hall - Recording & Rehearsal Concert Hall for the BBC
Client: Concert Bay Ltd
Project Value: £14m
Hulley contact: Andy Bradley
Winner of the ACE Engineering Excellence Award, Building Services (Medium Firm) Project
Hulley & Kirkwood Ltd supplied the M&E design services for this £14million development in Cardiff on behalf of the BBC which is going to provide a ‘State of the Art’ Recording & Rehearsal Hall and Office Accommodation. The city has seen dramatic changes over the last 10 years and has had major investment to raise Cardiff’s profile.
Hoddinott Hall, the new home of the National Orchestra of Wales, is a beautiful and useful adjunct to the Wales Millennium Centre, constructed to provide a state-of-the-art building for the BBC.
The new facilities include an auditorium with the highest quality acoustics enabling the Orchestra and Chorus to rehearse their music, perform to audiences of up to 700 people, make digital recordings for CD, and broadcast across the BBC Radio and TV networks.
This concert hall cannot be compared to other music halls due to its unique design. A double skinned ‘box within a box’ concept was incorporated, combined with a high specifcation accoustic design which necessitated innovative M&E solutions to match.
The most important services criterion of the project was the level of acoustics required, which needed to be second-to-none. Specialist low level hard-wood panels with oak flooring and 9cm thick veneers were installed in order to reflect the sound.
Moveable wall drapes and panels meant that reverberation time can be varied between 2.5 and 1.8 seconds, depending on the repertoire and audience size.
A bespoke, variable height integrated chilled acoustic element, plus ventilation system running at noise levels equivalent to a recording studio was devised.
The hall’s acoustics have been deemed excellent by the musicians that have tested it thus far.
Another important element of the brief was the lighting. Unlike other concert halls, Hoddinott Hall has windows placed high in one of the walls of the hall. They are triple glazed to ensure no outside noise can be detected and they let in a level of natural light – something that delighted the players due to their rarity in recording studios.
To enable the presence of film crews to record live sessions, the interior design changes dynamically ensuring brilliant audio broadcasting quality. This level of adaptability came at a cost as it added 2000Kw of heat – the equivalent of 3,300 domestic light bulbs. To resolve this issue, Hulleys proposed the use of specialist bulbs which emitted the same level of light at much lower heat levels. Fluorescent lighting was installed, as opposed to traditional lighting for energy saving reasons and silent digital dimming gear with scene setting was installed so foreign sounds would not be picked up with the sensitive recording equipment.
Together with the architect, Hulleys evolved a solution addressing issues of sustainability in the design of the project from the outset. The sustainable approach included consideration to allow future adaptability and re-use, ensuring the M&E design takes recognition of the multiple use of zonal development by incorporating extensive zonal distribution.
Finally, the building fabrics and building structure itself contributed to the sustainable aspect by ensuring minimum levels of energy usage.
This was the most acoustically challenging project in the UK, if not Europe, to date.
