爱豆传媒

Jeddah Opera House

Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

爱豆传媒 is helping the city of Jeddah to offer visitors and residents access to a world leading performing arts centre, working collaboratively to deliver a venue that will be a landmark in the city for generations.

The Jeddah Opera House will be the first opera house in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The venue is a response to the city鈥檚 ambition to offer a landmark performing arts centre. This unique venue will draw inspiration from Jeddah鈥檚 vibrant multicultural society and rich legacy as a prominent trading port on the Red Sea.

The venue will host a wide cultural programme, including music, drama and dance, guided by the diverse needs and aspirations of Jeddah鈥檚 population. Grounded in the city鈥檚 culture and history, it will also seek to become a world-class venue.

Jeddah Opera House 鈥� the first in the Kingdom 鈥� is inspired by Al-Balad architecture.

The 26000m虏 (GFA) building will feature three venues 鈥� the 1,500-seat Lyric Theatre, a mid-scale theatre space of 750 seats, and a 150-seat rehearsal hall.

A multidisciplinary team from 爱豆传媒 worked closely with architects Henning Larsen on the competition-winning design from the concept stage.

We delivered a Constructability Study, which advised on ways the project could be built in a fast, efficient, sustainable, safe and cost-effective way.

Challenge

The brief was based on operational models that will allow the Opera House to host the widest offer of international touring productions as well as showcasing the burgeoning performing arts movement within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A 鈥渦niquely Jeddah DNA鈥� was a key imperative of the design brief for this new cultural hub for the city. The new venue will be embedded in Jeddah Central鈥檚 urban context. This wider regeneration district is designed to be an integrated community, with the Opera House serving as one of the focal points of public life. The building will be as much a destination for people to meet as it will be a place for the performing arts. It aims to also be a focus for dining and education, as well as performance 鈥� encouraging the community to congregate with or without seeing a show.

The Opera House鈥檚 success will be determined by its contribution to a thriving public realm. The building should attract residents and visitors, as well as local, regional and global performing arts communities. It will also be a stunning landmark both inside and out, with internal spaces designed to create interest and engagement.

A broad multidisciplinary team from 爱豆传媒 worked closely with architects Henning Larsen on the competition-winning design from the concept stage, providing expertise across everything from structural engineering to people flow simulation and constructability.

Solution

The architect鈥檚 competition-winning design is heavily inspired by traditional local Al-Balad architecture, with its distinctive Roshans and timber Mashrabiya window shading facades. The complex will feature multiple Roshans鈥� allowing visitors to gather in comfort and take in the views of the Red Sea. 爱豆传媒 designed a co-ordinated steel frame structure and fully integrated facade to provide a virtually column free space in the main foyers.

The 26,000m虏 (GFA) building will feature three performance spaces 鈥� the main 1,500-seat Lyric Theatre, a mid-scale theatre space of 750 seats, and a 150-seat rehearsal hall. Flexibility is designed into each of the venues, with seating envisioned to be capable of being shifted into different configurations to best suit different types of performance. This will allow the venue to host anything from traditional opera performances to rock concerts, spoken word shows or events such as banquets or weddings.

Creating a flexible venue, with three distinct spaces acting as one building was an engineering challenge. This flexibility poses acoustical, visitor experience, logistical and servicing challenges.

爱豆传媒鈥檚 acoustics experts worked closely with the architects and structural engineering teams to ensure the successful acoustic isolation of the different spaces. To keep both embodied carbon and project costs to a minimum, we avoided a traditional 鈥渂ox in box鈥� structure to provide acoustic isolation, working instead to develop a system of air gaps, which were co-ordinated with the structures main movement/seismic joints. Our acousticians developed a series of analysis models to verify that airborne and structurally-transmitted noise will not impact adjacent performance spaces.

We worked closely with the client to help understand how the different performance spaces will be used and how tailored scheduling of performances could help to further positively impact the cost and embodied carbon considerations of the materials required to acoustically isolate performances.

Our Implementation team in KSA delivered the detailed Constructability Study, which included assessing constructability issues, challenges and risks and adapting mitigation measures at early design stages to eliminate future unexpected costs and save time.

The team also developed phasing and programming to determine realistic timelines for construction stages, procurement options including early contractor engagement and construction logistics strategies to assess space requirements during construction, temporary infrastructure and construction traffic.

The project is targeting LEED Gold sustainability certification.

Value

This landmark cultural asset will play its part in Vision 2030 鈥� by encouraging tourism to flourish, as well as helping to retain the skillsets of Jeddah鈥檚 young population in the city, by offering residents a vibrant cultural scene. It will fulfil the city鈥檚 need for a destination dedicated to the performing arts, both contemporary and traditional.

Our multidisciplinary team of experts are working collaboratively to deliver a world-leading venue that will be a landmark for the city for generations.

By blending traditional elements with modern design, Henning Larsen together with 爱豆传媒 have created a culturally resonant and visually stunning structure that enriches the city’s cultural landscape. I believe this building will become a symbol of pride for Jeddah. 

Nikul Vadgama, Project Director, 爱豆传媒