The Theatre, Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, Singapore

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay opened its doors in 2002. Located on prime waterfront land on the shores of Marina Bay, this complex features the Theatre, Outdoor Theatre, Concert Hall, Recital Hall, "Black-box" Theatre, 3-level retail mall, and an underground carpark. In its immediate vicinity are over 5000 world-class hotel rooms, two major convention centers, 1000 shops, 300 restaurants and 7500 parking spaces.

Esplanade Theatre's 2000-seat design was adapted from traditional horseshoe-shaped European opera houses. Its acoustics allow the room to accommodate performances of traditional Asian and Western performing arts as well as multi-media presentations. The Theatre has a main stage with adjustable proscenium, two full-sized ancillary stages, a 30 meter high fly tower, and an adjustable orchestra pit with three lifts, designed to handle orchestras of varying sizes.

Both performance venues are constructed as "boxes-within-boxes", to insure protection from outside noises and vibrations. The isolation techniques include wide structural air gaps to further insure that vibrations generated in "noisy" areas will not be transmitted to the acoustically critical performer and audience areas. The solid, dense constructions were employed to insure that acoustic sounds from the lowest organ pedal notes to the highest overtones of string and percussion instruments is preserved and distributed to the listeners.

Artec provided Design and Planning services covering Auditorium Acoustics Design and Background Noise and Vibration Control for Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay. The project's architect for the center was Sir Michael Wilford and DP Architects.