Great Amber is the name of the city’s new Concert Hall. With 1024 seats, it is the largest concert Hall in the Baltics. The decision to build it was made back in 1896. Great Amber is a monolithic, cone-shaped slightly contorted structure with a transparent, amber-coloured facade. This facade envelops the irregular folded framework of the concrete structure. According to legend, Liepaja is the city where the wind was born. That is why it was designed the building to “lean against the wind”.
Volker Giencke & Company Architects presents...
OVERALL TECHNICAL DESIGN of the CONCERT HALL
The concert hall is a concrete sculpture, cladded in and enveloped by a self-supporting variably tilted glazed facade. This facade consists of an interlocked wide flat steel structure that connects with the concrete sculpture in the roof area (resting upon the concrete sculpture). Structurally, the building is a reinforced concrete folded plate structure with a double-shell glazed facade and interior steel construction.
The facade shines in daylight like amber in different colors, from yellowish-white to orange and reddish brown, or takes the color of the sky. The facade is transparent, reflects the surrounding of Great Amber in different shades. At night Great Amber is a huge luminous body in the city, a giant amber, which reveals it’s interior and shows the activities that happen in him.
TECHNICAL DESIGN of FACADE – INNOVATION – UNIQUENESS and SUSTAINABILITY
The outer glazing is held in place by stainless steel glass clamps. These clamps guarantee that the threefold wind force is withheld, as compared to a normal wind force. A triangular and moveable “steel-sword” which is a very simple but effective invention, holds with 2-point fixings on the inner glass pane of the outer facade the
differently inclined and crooked glasses.
As outer glazing, the Great Amber facade consists of two screens with 4 special films of different colors which were tested under an artificial sun at the light-studio of Bartenbach / Innsbruck. That is, the facade shines in daylight like amber in different colors, from yellowish-white to orange and reddish brown, or takes the color of
the sky. The facade is transparent, reflects the surrounding of Great Amber in different shades. At night Great Amber is a huge luminous body in the city, a giant amber, which reveals it’s interior and shows the activities that happen in him.
Double facade as a climate buffer – closing the air inlets in winter, transfer the warm air over fans in the summer. The Amber facade is the second glazing of the double skin glass facade of Great Amber. The amber facade is 70 cm in front of the inner glazing. The airspace between them increases or decreases the actual outside temperature by 5 to 15°C. The overpressure prevents soiling the facade interspace.
The LIGHTING CONCEPT
A combination of four differently coloured foils, whose light spectrum was ascertained by Innsbruck based Bartenbach company in many tests, yields a range of light reflections from yellowishwhite to orange and reddish brown, depending on light incidence and reflection of the amber coloured facade. To the onlooker outside,
the concert hall with its surrounding spaces resembles an insect encapsulated in a piece of amber.
One special feature is the lighting of the stage area in the Concert Hall. Normally, concert halls are always dark, as they have no access to daylight. Great Amber project in Liepaja, however, responds to the special wish of the principle conductor to be able to conduct by daylight. Fourteen so-called light pipes, each with a diameter of over one meter, ensure that the concert hall receives sufficient daylight.
The interior of these light pipes consists of a highly reflective steel lining which augments natural light to such an extent that a unique spatial atmosphere is created when the sun shines, filling the space with brilliantly intense, yet evenly distributed daylight. When the weather is cloudy, the pipes provide diffuse, shadow-free daylight, too, thus conjuring up various moods and effects inside.
During the White Nights in summer, when the sun sets briefly, evening concerts can take place in daylight. With the aid of a blackout mechanism, light incidence can be regulated gradually. Besides achieving an optical effect, daylight illumination also has a practical purpose. No artificial light is needed for orchestra rehearsals largely taking place during the day, thus considerably saving energy costs. Moreover, since it is a multi-purpose venue, the Concert Hall is also suitable for congresses and festive events held during the day.
The grand concert hall has a seating capacity of over 1000. Its acoustically effective volume is around 11,200 m³. When the hall and the orchestra podium are fully occupied, reverberation time still reaches 1.8 to 2.0 seconds, increasing again towards the lower frequencies, thus lending the necessary warmth to the sound. Perfect conditions for classical concert performances.
The ACOUSTIC CONCEPT
The acoustics concept was developed together with Müller – BBM, Munich. The grand Concert Hall has a seating capacity of over 1000. Its acoustically effective volume is around 11,200 m³. When the hall and the orchestra podium are fully occupied, reverberation time still reaches 1.8 to 2.0 seconds, increasing again towards the lower frequencies, thus lending the necessary warmth to the sound. Perfect conditions for classical concert performances. With its tiers and balconies, the form of the hall follows the classic terraced vineyard pattern, thus enabling intimate proximity to the artists on the podium while everyone in the auditorium still enjoys the full spatial acoustics, no matter where they sit. Filigree decorative elements on the ceilings and walls affect a diffuse blend of acoustics for well-balanced sound quality without excessive clarity.
The Chamber Music Hall has a seating capacity of 180 and an acoustically effective volume of 1,200 m³, guaranteeing well-balanced and sophisticated sound quality at chamber music performances. Behind large white acoustically transparent wall coverings made of fabric, variable sound absorbent curtains are used to reduce long
natural reverberation times in both halls. Together with permanently installed public address systems, this type of sound absorption ensures very good speech and consonant intelligibility in both halls. It is therefore possible to use the concert halls, especially the larger one, for non-musical events such as conferences, lectures and
congresses.
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General Planner
Giencke & Company - Latvija PS, Riga
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Author & Architect
Volker Giencke
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Planning
Volker Giencke & Company, Graz
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Project Management
Petra Friedl
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Photographs
© Volker Giencke & Company
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Acoustics
Müller BBM - Karlheinz Müller & Michael Wahl, Munich / Planegg
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Stage Technic
Bühnenplanung Walter Kottke, Bayreuth
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Structural Engineer
Johann Birner, Graz
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Building Technology Concept
Altherm Engineering - Hans Haugeneder, Baden / Vienna
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Lighting Designer
Bartenbach Lichtlabor - Christian Bartenbach, Innsbruck
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Cost Planning
Lugitsch ZT GmbH, Graz
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Landscape
Planning Paul Giencke, Berlin
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Partner Architect
SIA Arhitekta J. Pogas Birojs - Astra & Juris Poga, Riga
