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Harmony of Light and Sound at new Watford Music Centre
Watford Grammar School's amazing new music centre, designed by Tim Ronalds Architects, looks like a beautiful green translucent cube and, thanks to the skills of Arup Acoustics, sounds just as good. Inside, there is a generous lofty foyer which is ideal for impromptu music and choral rehearsals leading to the centrepiece of the building - a full-size orchestral rehearsal hall including 250 fixed seats for the audience. In addition to sounding perfect, performers also look impressive thanks to the ETC lighting and controls installed by Lighting Logic.
Raf Orlowski, director at Arup Acoustics, says: "Around 15 years ago, Arup Acoustics carried out a survey of music facilities in schools for the then DfES and found inadequate conditions in many instances; pupils practising in corridors, music classes blighted by extraneous noise and band rehearsals in totally inappropriate acoustic environments. This survey led eventually to the publication in 2004 of a government directive, Building Bulletin 93,
which has resulted in a massive change in the acoustic quality of new music facilities and school buildings in general. It sensibly stated that ‘each room or other space in a school building shall have the acoustic conditions and the insulation against disturbance by noise appropriate to its normal use.'
"The new Watford Music Centre at Watford Grammar School epitomises the best intentions of Building Bulletin 93. It provides a spacious and well-lit performance and rehearsal space which can accommodate a full orchestra together with an audience, and enables pupils to play in first class conditions. The acoustics of the hall have been finely tuned to provide ample reverberance for classical music while at the same time accommodating other genres of music for which the acoustics can be adjusted using moveable acoustic drapes. There are numerous practice rooms of various shapes and sizes and the whole building has a light and airy feel, making it a delight for teachers and pupils alike."
Assistant head John Griffiths says: "We have an excellent music department, with several top class musicians - including French horn player David Pyatt - having studied here. We wanted to improve the music facilities as part of a rolling programme of improvements to the school, but costs looked as if they were prohibitive. Luckily, the local education authority also decided they needed a new home as part of their service and, four years ago, agreed to share the cost. The results in terms of both sound and light have been fantastic - better than anything we could have dreamt of. The old hall was built in 1912, so as you can imagine the acoustic wasn't as good as it could have been. Often, while many in the audience could hear the bass line, they had trouble catching the mid and top range."
Involved in installing a lighting system to ensure the musicians looked as good as they sounded was Lighting Logic. Sales director Mick Cocker says: "The system consisted of ETC Unison dimmers and programming panels in the Recital Hall, along with powder coated white Source Four luminaires for the platform and house lighting. ETC's Source Four is a high efficiency fixture specifically designed for theatrical use, and is the world's most popular
theatrical luminaire, so students can be assured of the best quality lighting possible."
The lower ground floor of the building, which has been short-listed for a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) award, contains two large music rehearsal and teaching spaces with a central control room so that recordings can be made; there are also two formal music classrooms. Practice rooms and ensemble rooms of various sizes are located mainly on the first and second floors with additional ones on the lower ground floor and a large percussion
room on the ground floor.
"So far," concludes John Griffiths, "we have only held our own school performances, but the Music Centre has already been booked by the BBC for recordings of a music reality show, Maestro."
In picture: Arup worked on acoustics at Watford Grammar School photo: Arup
22nd April 2008
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