to the advancement and preservation of the
country’s ancient art form, Chinese opera, known
as xiqu. Revery Architecture (formerly Bing
Thom Architects) and Ronald Lu & Partners
won the international design competition with
a signature building that invokes the flow of
movement and costumes that is at the heart of
xiqu. In addition to its track record on Western
opera houses, SSV has experience in Asian arts –
for example Singapore’s Esplanade – and digital
audio systems. This was all applied to guide the
acoustical design for 21st century xiqu.
Performance and training spaces include
the 1,000-seat Grand Theatre, the 200-seat
Above: The Tea House
Theatre at the Xiqu Centre
in Hong Kong
Above right: The Xiqu Centre
is intended to preserve and
advance xiqu, traditional
Chinese opera
DESIGN AND ACOUSTICS
Tea House Theatre, a seminar hall, rehearsal
facilities, a recording/broadcast suite and the
indoor-outdoor atrium. SSV also provided
sound isolation of the performance and rehearsal
spaces and containment from the busy traffic
surrounding the center.
Outside in
Cantonese opera was originally developed for
the open air, and those who in recent years have
brought it indoors have relied on amplified
sound. The Xiqu Centre heralds the next phase
of development for xiqu – SSV has included
flexible acoustics elements and audio systems
to tailor the balance between the orchestra and
onstage voices. The company believes this will
enable a level of audio quality that has, as yet, not
been available in Chinese opera performances. n
www.soundspacevision.com
SOUND
SPACE
VISION
THEATRE PLANNING & ACOUSTICS
www.soundspacevision.com
+44 (0)208 877 5860/68
info@soundspacevision.com
SOUND SPACE VISION, formed from Anne Minors
Performance Consultants and Sound Space
Design in 2015, is world renowned for its multimodal
approach to designing performing arts
spaces and other venues where sound, lighting,
and human connection are key to success.
Nevill Holt Opera House
1002511_PAUD_Sound Space Vision.indd 1 15/05/2019 15:02
AUDITORIA 2019 VOLUME ONE 115
/www.soundspacevision.com
/www.soundspacevision.com
link