Hush-hush job for Lindab
Lindab has designed a ventilation system for the main auditorium of Copenhagen Opera House that delivers high volumes of air with no perceptible noise.
A displacement ventilation system developed by Lindab for the new Copenhagen Opera House was designed to meet the exacting PNC15 standard. Acoustic tests by Arup Acoustics on the finished project show that the system has indeed met this standard. PNC15 is the background noise level required in a good recording studio and is imperceptible to human ears. The specification for the main auditorium called for high-volume air flow — with no draughts and, most importantly, no noise. Lindab’s approach was to build full-scale models of the opera house’s stalls and balcony at its laboratory in Farum, Denmark. Lindab was then able to carry out full-scale development trials, measure the performance of the system before it was built and prove that it could do the job. Jørn Treldal of technical consultant Rambøll was responsible for all HVAC installations. He explains, ‘The opera house has probably been the most complicated project I’ve been involved in. The architectural ambitions were extremely high, and the sound requirements for the main auditorium were anything but simple. Lindab was selected by a clear margin; it was the best technical solution.’ The Lindab ventilation units consist of a box with a perforated rear and a black powder-coated grille at the front. Because of the curvature of the hall, each of the 1700 diffusers for the main auditorium has to be individually designed for a specific seat.
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