Opera House architect Peter Hall family disappointed with Concert Hall changes

“After all his efforts on the design and finishing of the space, it feels like another beating from his legacy. You don’t see changes like this happening in old concert halls in Europe,” he said.

Son Henry Hall, a creative director, said he appreciated the “complicated situation” at the Opera House, which needed to “move with time” to cater for rock, hip hop and acoustic concerts and symphonies at Concert Hall.

Textured box front at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Credit:Nick Moir

“In the nearly 50 years it has opened, I can appreciate the acoustic requirements and functionality of the room have changed. It is designed to produce optimal symphonic acoustics. There are so many genres and styles appearing in the space today.

“You do have to wonder, though if this were, say, another architect and not Peter Hall, would they dare touch it?” he says.

Opera House CEO Louise Herron said the Concert Hall upgrade was developed and delivered with the utmost care and respect for the Opera House’s state, national and World Heritage significance and in accordance with their Conservation Management Plan, which preserves the heritage values ​​of the work of Jorn Utzon and Peter Hall. .

“We did this in broad consultation with a number of experts and stakeholders, including the Opera House Design Advisory Panel, the Conservation Council and the Building & Heritage Committee, all of whom have been involved during design, planning and construction,” he said.

Peter Hall completed the design for the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Credit: Rhett Wyman

“I understand that any changes at Concert Hall are difficult for the Peter Hall family. We have involved them throughout the project. We are committed to further recognizing Peter Hall’s significant contributions – both in the way we talk about the work of Hall, Todd, and Littlemore [Peter Hall’s company] but also through physical recognition on site.”

“I look forward to welcoming the Hall family to the Opera House next week for its reopening
concerts, so that they can feel the transformative impact of these works, especially acoustically,
who will secure the future of the Concert Hall and the legacy of their father’s work for many years
to come,” he said.

John Rourke, spokesman for OpusSOH, a team of architects, interior designers and consultants who worked for Hall, Todd and Littlemore on completing the original interior of the Opera House, said the Concert Hall renovation was made possible by technology that didn’t exist then. they worked in the building in the 1960s.

“In the architectural summary when Jorn Utzon left, we were asked to convert a multi-function hall into a symphony hall. Now we’ve gone the other way around – back to the initial brief design,” said Rourke, who helped determine the seat sizes at the Concert Hall.

Willy Hall, son of Opera House architect Peter Hall.Credit:AP

Both OpusSOH and the Hall family hope the Sydney Opera House Trust will grant their request to rename the Drama Studios to the Peter Hall Playhouse, in a manner named the Utzon Room in honor of the original Danish architect who dreamed up the building.

The Drama Theater wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Peter – it was the engine room under the stage for the original hall that Utzon designed, and when we asked to remove the engine he suggested we turn it into another room for drama,” Rouke said.

Peter Hall, who took over from Jorn Utzon as principal architect for the Sydney Opera House.Credit:Ronald Leslie

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When Hall reluctantly took up building work in the 1960s at the request of the NSW Government Architect, Ted Farmer, he did so in the belief that he would follow Utzon’s original plans, or at least work with him in consulting.

If such a plan existed, Hall and his team at Hall, Todd and Littlemore were denied access to them after Utzon’s departure.

At the request of the then Askin NSW government, Hall’s team was ordered to convert the main hall from a multipurpose hall for opera, ballet and symphony, to a hall focused primarily on symphonic concerts, to cater to the needs of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra which was then run by the ABC.

The new Concert Hall, which opens next Wednesday, has been modified to allow performances from classical music to contemporary concerts as well as drama and other forms of performance.

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