Rebecca Maloney
Americas Press Office ,Boston
Arup’s acoustic modelling key to the design of the extraordinary 1,200 seat pop-up theatre.
A centrepiece of the 30th Anniversary TED2014 Conference held in March was the 1,200 seat temporary theatre, designed by Rockwell Group, and built within the main ballroom at the Vancouver Convention Centre in the span of one week. Arup was brought in to design the acoustics and audio systems.
Unsure of the acoustics that the ballroom would deliver, TED engaged Arup during the design phase to acoustically model the new theatre and provide 3D audio design. Advanced modelling expertise developed at Arup was used to present a virtual “TED Talk” that could be auditioned simultaneously for audiences in the networked Arup SoundLabs in New York and San Francisco.
“"Arup’s team was fantastic to work with and they played a key role in determining the acoustic issues we were facing in building a theatre in a ballroom. Without Arup’s skill and insight we may have successfully built a theatre in six days and had phenomenal presenters, but failed at providing a quality acoustical experience in the room. I recognized early on that professional acoustical experience was required, and sought out the team at Arup to model the room, identify the challenges, provide feedback for remediation and develop an equipment specification. We were happy with the end result and know we can move forward confidently having this work behind us."
-Katherine McCartney, director of operations for TED.
Arup worked in cooperation with the Vancouver Convention Centre, Rockwell Group, and the technical providers to turn the acoustic model into a realistic program on an accelerated schedule. The result is a theatre within the ballroom that features high-quality acoustics for music, voice, and streaming audio.
Arup also designed the audio systems for the simulcast centres throughout the Vancouver Convention Centre, as well as at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Hotel, which hosted TEDActive 2014.