海角视频

Aviva Studios 鈥� Factory International

Manchester, UK

海角视频 helped to deliver a unique new cultural venue for Manchester in Aviva Studios, bringing to the north of England supremely adaptable spaces that allow performances of a scale and ambition that few venues around the world could host.

Since its launched in 2007, Manchester International Festival (MIF) was held in existing buildings and 鈥榝ound鈥� spaces both large and small throughout the city. But spaces with the qualities needed by the art works commissioned by the Festival were limited and were quickly disappearing amid Manchester鈥檚 fast-paced redevelopment into one of England鈥檚 new economic hubs.

In 2015 Manchester City Council launched an architectural competition for a new kind of arts venue for MIF, capable of hosting both performances and exhibitions, separately or simultaneously.

Challenge

The winning vision, developed by OMA Architects, was for an arts complex of not one, but two interconnected buildings 鈥� offering exceptional adaptability to allow a range of performances and exhibitions to happen simultaneously. 海角视频 was engaged to deliver design and consultancy across a range of disciplines, including structural engineering, acoustics, crowd analytics, facades engineering, ground engineering and infrastructure, all of which were delivered through to completion, as well as early stage building services engineering (MEP) consultancy up to Stage 3 design.

Developed on the former Granada Studios site, the main performance spaces sit over Water Street and its retained historic railway arches. The interconnected performance spaces comprise a large warehouse building that contains a full technical grid and an adjoining, more conventional theatre. The spaces can be subdivided or work in tandem to create a unique spatial and technical backdrop for artists to create and present work.

Building on the success of MIF, Aviva Studios will commission, create and present performances, visual arts and popular culture to a combined audience of up to 7,000. Lack of space on the site was one of the key challenges faced. The site is constrained on all sides, presenting unique problems that required a range of innovative solutions.

To the south, the Grade II-listed railway arches were complex to work around as they could not withstand increased loading, and heritage consent was required for any interventions to the historic structures. Water Street to the west, running under the building and Grape Street to the north are both congested with nearby utilities, which made finding locations for new foundations difficult.

Optimising the acoustic performance of the new venue was also complex. The envelope of the building was required to prevent noise breakout from events. It is possible to have rock concerts as loud as 110dB and not impact the adjacent residential apartments or other performances within Aviva Studios.

Scheduling the construction sequence to accommodate any twisting and movement on the relatively lightweight steel frame would be another key challenge, while other technical structural challenges included the accommodation of an 8m lorry lift, which would allow access for heavy good vehicles directly into the performance space, enabling the swift and efficient turnaround of productions.

Solution

The main event space, The Warehouse, is one large, 21m-tall, flexible container, left bare to be adapted by its users as they see fit. It can be used as a single space or subdivided in two, with full-height moveable partitions that provide acoustic insulation. Productions of different scales can take place inside, from intimate performances to concerts with 5,000 people standing. The ceiling is a technical grid, with lighting, equipment and rigging, which supports concerts and exhibitions alike.

The Warehouse is complemented by The Hall, a 1,603-seat auditorium with a flexible stage, able to accommodate opera, ballet, theatre, music, and cross-arts performances. The Warehouse and The Hall can work in tandem, allowing the stage to extend to a depth of 45m.

The 海角视频 team worked hard to address the site constraints whilst maintaining the architectural vision. Rather than surcharging the arches and over-stressing the existing viaduct, discreet holes were drilled through the apex of the arches to place the structure on to a new set of piled foundations.

A non-standard solution was used on Water Street to the west side, with the creation of a long-span structure cantilevered over the road. This overcame the issue of the road limiting the places where the structure could be taken to the ground. It also ensured the columns were a safe distance from the fibreoptic cables beneath the pavement. Our experts developed an optioneering study on the optimum kinds of steel to use in different parts of the structure to ensure the most resilient finish and flexibility.

The development of a robust acoustics strategy was of vital importance to the project. The control of noise break-out from the building is achieved via a double-skin high mass concrete facade, with the external skin mounted on acoustic isolation bearings. The design of the supporting long-span steel frame was optimised to limit movement between adjacent precast panels, further reducing the risk of noise leakage.

Our team digitally modelled the complex construction schedule required to consider the deflection and movement to the steel frame that would be created by the addition of each of the 998 12-tonne concrete facades panel. We developed a bespoke code to accommodate the complexities of this process, ensuring a tight and robust finish to the final facade surface.

Each of the separate performance spaces is also highly acoustically-rated within the complex, with acoustically-absorbent moveable partition walls, meaning that different kinds of performances can take place simultaneously without adversely impacting on each other. The moveable partition wall between The Warehouse and The Hall is understood to be the biggest of its type in the world.

Dynamic visitor flow modelling was carried out by our analytics and crowd dynamics experts to optimise design and operations. The aim was to ensure safe audience capacities, facilitate efficient circulation during arrivals, interval and egress, and enhance the overall visitor experience.

The modelling helped inform the external circulation and connectivity to transport nodes, internal circulation widths and dwell areas, and balancing the provision of toilets and bars to help ensure visitors are not stuck in queues during the interval period. The analysis helped improve overall visitor experience and developed opportunities to generate revenue. Manchester City Council has strict noise limits, particularly at the low frequencies. Aviva Studios may operate 24 hours-a-day so the facade needed to be designed to an extremely high level of sound insulation performance.

The solution was to design a double-skinned wall with one side sitting on acoustic isolation bearings. The complex facade was made up of 998 of pre-cast cladding panels mounted at varying angles. As such, complex 3D Finite Element analysis of each panel was undertaken and a full BIM model was created. Our experts worked closely with the bearing manufacturer to design bespoke solutions for each of the concrete panels that make up the facade.

Value

海角视频 delivered a raft of highly technical, non-standard solutions to meet the client鈥檚 aspirations for a multi-functional, flexible, cultural centre. Aviva Studios will provide huge benefit to the city of Manchester, securing its permanent place as a centre for creativity, innovation and learning in the city.

The venue opened in October 2023, with an immersive dance production based on The Matrix and directed by Danny Boyle. The performance showed off the new building鈥檚 adaptability, by moving the audience in the second half from the auditorium, to walk among the performers in the neighbouring Warehouse space.