IOA presents first Engineering Medal
The Institute of Acoustics’ first Engineering Award has been awarded to Rob Harris of Arup Acoustics, for his remarkable contribution to acoustical engineering, particularly in relation to design.
The medal was presented by Dr Tony Jones, President of the Institute of Acoustics, at its recent Spring Conference on Building Acoustics.
Rob Harris is known world-wide for his substantial contribution to the practice of auditorium design and has been instrumental in designing the acoustics of a huge number of landmark buildings of many types including convention centres, cathedrals, airport termini and office buildings. He is particularly respected for his work on opera houses and concert halls and played a key role in the design of the highly acclaimed Glyndebourne Opera House in Sussex and the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, followed by the City Recital Hall in Sydney and the refurbishment of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He was also appointed to design the acoustics of the new opera house in Copenhagen which was completed in 2004 and has been acclaimed as being “second to none”. Another of Rob’s lyric theatre projects that opened successfully in 2004 was the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. His current assignments include the design of the acoustics for the opera house in Oslo and the redesign of the opera theatre of the Sydney Opera House.
On receiving his award, Rob Harris said, “This is a particular honour as I have not received a medal of this kind before. The best form of honour you can get is to receive one from your own professional colleagues and I would like to thank my colleagues for this award. I would also like to thank my history teacher at school who taught me two important things: The excitement of working in performing arts and the importance of performing arts in society. These two things have kept me coming back for more!”
Following the award ceremony, Rob Harris gave an entertaining and fascinating lecture on the acoustic design of the Operaen Copenhagen, providing an insight into the complex engineering that has been incorporated into the building in order to achieve the architecturally and acoustically impressive outcome. Among the many factors that Rob explained were the techniques used to balance the loudness of the singers with the orchestra, including the geometrical design and materials used, the engineering of the variable sound absorption system, and the particular challenges of designing one of the largest orchestra pits in the world so as to achieve a very flexible configuration. The measures taken to achieve extremely low background noise levels and very high sound insulation were described, and Rob was particularly pleased with the success of the noise control design concepts utilised for the numerous items of stage machinery and building services. The importance of dramatic but silent set movements was demonstrated to great effect in the opening production of Aida. In combination with its stunning architecture the audience was left in no doubt that this technically advanced building provides world class acoustics.
The Institute of Acoustics Engineering Medal is the most recent of the Institute's medals. It will be awarded on a bi-annual basis to registered engineers at Chartered, Incorporated or Engineering Technician grade in recognition of their outstanding contribution in the field of acoustical engineering.