INTRODUCTION

USHER HALL , EDINBURGH

 The Usher Hall is a concert hall, situated on Lothian Road, in the west end of Edinburgh, Scotland.
 It has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914
 It can hold approximately 2,200 people in its recently restored auditorium, which is well loved by
performers due to its acoustics.
 The Hall is flanked by The Royal Lyceum Theatre on the right and The Traverse Theatre on the left. 

PLAN

HISTORY
 The design was partly a backlash against Victorian Gothic, with a return to classical features owing
much to the Beaux-Arts style. OBJECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS

 Its curved walls, unusual for the time, were made SECTION
possible by developments in reinforced concrete.

 The dome was designed to reflect the curvature  The hall conforms to the horseshoe plan at all
of the walls, not to give a domed interior (which three seating levels
would have been acoustically disastrous)
 A distinct proscenium frame divides the
 The interior of the hall is adorned with decorative auditorium from the stage , with fluted ionic
plaster panels by the Edinburgh sculptor columns on each side and with a drop of
 Harry Gamley. The figures depicted in these ceiling height over the stage
panels show figures from the world of music,
as well as famous Scots.  When viewed on axis the area behind the

proscenium is reminiscent of the perspective
Harry Gamley's work also features on the outside of the
building with two large figures representing Inspiration and Achievement, as well as another scene with a raked ‘perspective’ floor which
three figures by Crossland McClure depicting the Soul of Music, Music of the Sea and Music was the norm for eighteen century theatre
of the Woods. stages
 The reverberation time of the usher hall is
 The finished building was officially opened on 16 March 1914 with a concert featuring music
reasonable , at the bottom of the optimum range
by Handel, Bach, Wagner, Beethoven and the Scottish composer Hamish MacCunn.
 The change with occupancy is larger than normal
 The final cost of building the Usher Hall was £134,000. due to there being little upholstery on seats in the
gallery
 The early delay time is unusual in that it is higher
CONCLUSION
than the reverberation time at mid frequencies
The Usher Hall is designed in the monumental manner but without attention to the successful acoustic
 The measured values of the objective clarity are
tradition of rectangular concert halls . The form has its origins in theatre designs but the scale has been
not remarkable but the objective envelopment
made appropriate for concert use . Fortunately this has meant a large enough hall volume to provide a
contains some very high values
reasonable reverberation time . However the theatre form with its concave walls results in unpleasant
 As plotted here the total sound level shows
focused reflections at seats close to that wall , whereas elsewhere there is a lack of early sound ,
evidence of non-uniform behaviour , with some
particularly from the front .The evidence of this hall suggests that this too is judged as detrimental
positions louder than expected and some quieter
acoustically . Where strong reflections do arrive , in the upper circle and behind the stage , the
acoustics work well .

ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS Submitted by-1601037 , 1601038 , 1601039 , 1601041