ACOUSTICS
KAHLE ACOUSTICS
Twin peaks
W hen asked at its opening if
Concert halls in Andermatt and St Christoph am Arlberg
have both been acoustically optimised to attract the
world’s greatest musicians to the Alps
Andermatt Concert Hall in
Switzerland was the highest
concert hall in Europe,
Eckhard Kahle joked that
the record was actually held by another of Kahle
Acoustics’ projects in St Christoph am Arlberg,
Austria. The founder and managing director of
Kahle Acoustics was right – with Andermatt
lying at an altitude of 1,430m (4,692ft), the
Austrian hall beats it by nearly 400m (1,312ft).
Nevertheless, as the Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestra struck the opening notes of
Mozart’s Symphony No. 34 in
C Major, any disappointment
at losing the altitude contest
was soon dispelled.
Andermatt Concert
Hall opened in June 2019
after a rapid design and
construction programme
that began in early 2018.
At that point the concert
hall was still a concrete
bunker next to a hotel being
financed by Samih Sawiris, an
Egyptian developer and longtime
classical music lover. Sawiris’
passion for music was sparked during his
time as a student in Berlin, Germany, attending
concerts by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Raise the roof
The space was originally intended to become a
7m (23ft)-tall conference room. However, Sawiris
saw the potential to convert the unprepossessing
bunker into a world-class concert hall. Studio
Seilern Architects, acoustics firm Kahle
Acoustics and theatre consultants Ducks Scéno
were brought on board. After analysing a number
of designs that retained the existing 2,000m3
(70,629ft3) concrete shell, the architects proposed
to raise the roof, more than doubling the volume
to 5,000m3 (176,573ft3). This enabled the
introduction of a wrap-around balcony,
increasing the capacity to nearly 700 seats,
while also flooding the hall with daylight.
With views to the mountains, the audience is
surrounded by swirling snow in the winter and
sunshine in the summer.
Sawiris aspired to attract the world’s top
orchestras and to establish a programme of
classical music festivals in collaboration with
the Lucerne Festival. Therefore it was
clear that this should be a hall
where orchestras and chamber
music ensembles – more used
to performing in much
larger halls – would feel
perfectly comfortable.
The challenge for the
designers at Kahle
Acoustics was therefore
to create the impression
of a large hall and produce
a grown-up acoustic for
orchestras whose home
concert halls count among
the very best in the world.
Familiar territory
Providing a familiar stage environment for the
musicians was key. The hall has a somewhat
unorthodox arrangement, with the stage along
the long wall of the hall. This was driven both by
the aim to accommodate orchestras of up to 75
musicians and the necessity to retain a fire access
road at ground level. In this configuration the
hall is 25m (82ft) wide and has balconies
extending alongside the stage. “The physical and
acoustical situation will be familiar to ensembles
coming from the KKL Lucerne in Switzerland,
52 AUDITORIA 2020 VOLUME ONE
Andermatt
Concert Hall
has a volume of
5,000m3 (176,573ft3)
and its stage
accommodates up
to 75 musicians