Author: Thomas @ ARD

It is good to be back into the thick of it: performing arts design. Today, it is a 1200 seat theatre. And there is a lot of work to be done.

First, this will be analysed in Rhino and Grasshopper for acoustic volume estimation, sightlines, ray-tracing and estimations of source strength (G), sound clarity (C80, C50) and the general early efficiency of the room.

Then, the model will be optimised to achieve the most even coverage of early lateral reflections and finally, we will run simulations to quantify the changes.

We will post updates as things progress. The ray-tracing has seriously evolved since our last publication on it. Stay tuned!

The ODEON license is here! We are now ready to help with simulations! Call if you need support with your project.

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Although it didn’t win this time, UNStudio has revealed the design proposal for the Shenzhen Opera House. The team at UNStudio Shanghai and I worked several months on this and the result would have been a great development for Shenzhen.

(Click on the image to visit their detailed page)

Today, we pushed “launch” and it felt great!

Tomorrow, we will continue to populate the site, make it clearer, more useable.

We also plan to have a Download section for all these generative design tools we do on the side. So please get in touch if you want us to look at something in particular!

When you have 200 rooms to scale for a project and very little time, you need a visual tool that can help you resolve bills of quantities, acoustics and proportions of the space. We are working of a Quick RT calculator directly in Grasshopper. It feeds the basics room list from an Excel spreadsheet and based on simple criteria, can assist you with getting all your volumes and quantities of acoustic finishes into the spreadsheet. By the way, it also creates 3D models for export or reuse in the model.

Can we assist architects during the intense period of a design competition with a volume holder for a Blackbox theatre? Giving volumes are great, but what if it was a little bit more advanced? What if it could be rendered as well and include useful information about foyer levels and access routes?
Or simply a tool to assist a client with visualizing what a 400m² footprint can get them?