The Gulbenkian Great Hall, Lisbon, I: Acoustic design

Abstract

The paper describes the principal auditorium (Great Hall) of the headquarters of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon for which the author was consultant. The hall seats about 1100 people on a gradually sloped main floor and 200 in a balcony across the rear. The stage can accommodate about 250 performers. The principal purpose is for music but ballet and meetings are also requirements. Its chief acoustic feature is a stage of remarkable adaptability, being able to provide either a full-depth flat floor, or a flat floor with a pit, or a fully raked stage on seven lifts, one of which can close off a fore-stage (and incorporates a projection screen), while another can close off a full orchestra area. A small organ has its own lift. A reflector can be raised or lowered, tilted and tracked forward or back. The walls of the stage have a unique rotating arrangement. There is no stage house. The hall is generally rectangular but with non-parallel sides, and lighting and TV protrusions on the walls assist diffusion. In principle the ceiling is flat, but raised or lowered portions for light and ventilation again provide diffusion. There are very limited areas of special absorption.