The Royal Academy of Music

London, United Kingdom

Industry

Construction

Sector

Leisure

Building Type

Theatres, Events and Concert Halls

The Project

The Royal Academy of Music was redeveloping a theatre and recital hall at Regent’s Park in central London. The acoustically diverse spaces complete a suite of facilities for the Academy’s talented and ambitious teaching staff and student body:

The Susie Sainsbury Theatre- Designed for both opera and musical theatre productions, the theatre sits at the heart of the Academy with a seating capacity of 309. The theatre has been acoustically refined to deliver outstanding sound qualities, so that the space can act as the final chamber for the human voice, enhancing and perfecting the sound qualities.

The Angela Burgess Recital Hall- Created directly above the theatre, the recital hall has been acoustically isolated from all other parts of the building and provides the Academy with a further 230m² of space and 100 seats.

Farrat was exceptionally proud to have provided the acoustic isolation solutions for such an esteemed academy.

Key value we brought to the project

The redevelopment was a unique and complicated acoustic project, with an impressive project team including: Ian Ritchie Architects, Arup, WSP Structures, Ulrike Brandi Licht and Geoffrey Osborne Ltd. The site is located near to 3 tube lines, therefore needed an effective acoustic isolation solution to ensure good sound quality within the spaces. Farrat Technical Director, Ryan Arbabi, provided technical guidance on how to acoustically separate the two performance spaces to achieve an exceptionally high level of sound insulation, within the constraints of both the existing building’s structural capacity and the architect’s ambitious aesthetic agenda. The redevelopment project has been praised with a host of awards since its completed, for example:

Winner 2018 RIBA National Award
Winner 2018 RIBA London Building of the Year Award
Winner 2018 NLA Award- Culture and Community Category
TIME Top 100 Greatest Places

Jonathon Freeman-Atwood

Principal, Royal Academy of Music

The spaces are stunningly beautiful, acoustically brilliant and inspiring. They will raise the bar and challenge the students and staff in every possible form of music to reach high and search further.