Scottish Opera & Royal Theatre

Glasgow, Scotland

As Arup Scotland’s Arts & Culture Sector Leader, Sébastien Jouan was able to collaborate with Alex Reedijk, CEO of Scottish Opera.

The first joint project in 2008 was to establish the noise exposure levels that musicians were experiencing in the orchestra pit. This was important given the recent controversy over the noise exposure levels of musician employees. Based on the results, we provided advice on how to mitigate these levels.

Later in 2012, Alex decided to add live concerts by the Scottish Opera Orchestra to their programme. To achieve this, an acoustic shell was required.

The work involved examining the acoustic conditions of the Glasgow Royal Theatre and designing a removable acoustic shell that would encourage sound reflections back to the audience and allow the musicians to hear themselves better on stage. The weight of this shell was specified in order to have the best possible acoustic characteristics while ensuring that its modular construction makes it both easy to handle and quick to store.

Acoustic Design: Arup

Role of Sébastien Jouan: Client Contact, Project Manager and Acoustic Design

Delivery: 2008 and 2014