Presentation by Gabriella Ebbesson

1. LUCERNE CULTURE
JEAN NOUVEL
AND CONGRESS CENTRE

2. LOCATION

3. 2.old town and chapel bridge
4.Plaza europa
3.lake vierwaldstättersee
1
2
4
3
5
5.train station by calatrava1.culture and
congress centre (kkl)

4. - Nouvel won competition in 1990 with original plan that included the
center to develop on the surface of the lake
- Impossible to build on water so entered lake into the building
- Two channels of low depth into three parts of the building at level of
Plaza Europa
- Built in 5 years between 1995 and 2000
- Unique that people of Lucerne collaborated with Jean Nouvel during
different phases of construction
- Nouvel aligned structure with existing environment
- Huge roof
- Compliments existing landmarks Mount Pilatus and Chapel Bridge
- One of best concert halls in the world in terms of sound
- Activities: culture, cuisine, conventions
- Concert hall box, conference center and museum are independent
but structure shows what takes place inside, degrees of
transparency and opacity 1
Three parts under cover of 370 feet by 350 feet: Concert hall
Conference rooms with auditorium
Museum of contemporary art
DESIGN
Idea: Play with horizontal plane as canopy linking spaces below it
Metaphor refers to three ships docked in the lake under the huge deck
2.restaurant
3.multi-purpose hall
4.Convention Center
with auditorium
1.Concert hall
1
2
3
4
n

5. - Different events take place under same roof with transparent boundaries
- Water from lake flows into the building, the three parts of the building lined up
like three large ships docked at lake under roof
- Roof covers entire Europa Square - gives peaceful atmosphere
- Roof 129,166 SF, height 68 feet
- Makes all kinds of events possible
- Can be transformed - separating walls can be removed
- Music: Blues, rock, pop concerts, conventions, dance performances, house
parties, fashion events
- Holds 220 to 1800 people
- Always open to public
- Looks like birdcage - surrounded by metal grating
- Main feature: Auditorium on first floor, 270 guests
- Bistro at main entry level
- Museum on fourth floor 2
Lucerne Hall
Convention Center
and Museum
- Lobbies are not only passageways to an auditorium but
gathering spots
- Can enjoy the sweeping spaces and carefully placed views
to the outside world and multiple points of access to
outdoor terraces. 3
overview

6. ground level
section concert hall section conference rooms & auditorium section museum
level 1 level 5
1.Cafeteria
2.hall
3.exhibition hall
4.hall for 300 people
5.foyer
1.restaurant
2.foyer
3.hall for 300 people
4.empty space over foyer
5.empty space over foyer
1.terrace
2.multi-purpose
3.foyer for 300 people
4.museum
5.technical room
6.interior foyer
7.multi-purpose
8.service access
9.concert hall
10.bar
6.multi-purpose
7.empty space over service
8.foyer
9.concert hall (balcony lev. 2)
10.reverberation chamber
6.concert hall (balcony level 4)
7.reverberation chamber

7. - Capacity: 1900 seats on five floors
- Music: Classical
- Called Room Blanché due to the color of its walls
- Roof terrace gives panoramic 250 degree view of city, lake and
mountains
- Meets highest acoustical requirements
Acoustical features: Canopy above stage
Movable reverberation chamber doors
White plaster relief tiles
Acoustic corridors that isolate all sound
Below hearing level air circulation system
Covered in maple
Concert Hall
Materials: Structure is reinforced concrete
Ceiling made of steel
Bottom surface of deck made of aluminum by 2000 elements
- Reflect landscape and lake
Facades of metal and glass
Hall covered with maple
White plaster walls
Blue roof canopy and seats
More than 16,000 SF different types of wood, pine, beech, maple
- Characterized by its opacity - in contrast to the convention area
- Unusual colors like garnet red, deep green and midnight blue
- Outer walls are clad in wood and curved shape pushes into angular foyer
resembling a cello case. 4

8. - Optimum acoustics: height, width and length being in a 1:1:2 ratio
- Shoebox principle
- 670,980 cubic feet - enough space, creates soft, round finish
- 353 cubic feet/person
- 24,000 square plaster reliefs, each 7.8 inches in length - plastered
surfaces break the reflection of the sound, multiplying it and distributing it
in all directions
- Hall dimensions: H 72 feet x W 72 feet x L 150 feet
- Orchestra area dimensions: 34 feet x 60 feet
- Small stage area: 2260 SF
- Large stage area: 2658 SF
- Above the stage, Goll organ with 4,387 pipes - can be closed off with
large doors and a 40-ft x 26-ft wide projection screen can be lowered in
front of it
- Many walls are touch-panel-controlled hydraulic panels - can be used to
modify the reverberation time of the room
- Requirements included ability to fully retract the loudspeaker system for
non-reinforced events - eliminating the need for temporary placement of
auxiliary loudspeakers for audience coverage
- 360° coverage for spoken word events (also covering the area beside
and behind the stage, including the balcony below the organ)
- Required two years of consulting, planning, contractor selection,
supervision of installation and calibration of the technical systems
- Main loudspeaker system installed significantly lower and closer to
the stage than the previous solution - increased by a distributed system
whose elements are permanently installed but retractable by motors 5
basement plan circulation

9. - Large, connected, hollow space that surrounds the
concert hall on its upper level
- Opens through 50 electronically controllable concrete
doors - sound can be varied and reverberation time
extended by up to 3 seconds
- When using it volume of Hall can be increased by 211,888
cubic feet from 670,980 cubic feet, third of original volume
- Slightly convex panels covered with 24,000 custom
designed gypsum relief elements
- Reverberation time also adjusted through absorbing
curtains
- If reflective zones evenly covered the reverberation time
will be reduced and the acoustics will dry out - required for
spoken word events, jazz and pop concerts
- Height-adjustable sound reflector, also in different parts
- Located above the stage
- Enables musicians to hear things without a sound delay
- Allows the acoustics to be adjusted for each individual work
- When Hall not completely full, canopy is set lower down to
create a more intimate space
- Very large formations and when organ is in use - can be
raised to directly underneath the ceiling 4
reverberation Chamber canopy
section through halllevel 4 with reverberation chamber

10. - Uniform spatial impression
- Largest part of sound energy interacts with the walls, then thrown
back sideways to the listener as venue sound - used optimally by the
four side galleries
- Venue sound has the same intensity everywhere
- Uniformity creates a spatial impression - one of the most important
subjective aspects of the acoustic quality
Ambient Sound Silence
- Noise level in Hall = 18 decibels - not audible within the normal
frequency range of human hearing
- Ventilation and lighting installations are virtually inaudible during
concerts
- Entrances into Hall are sealed with soundproof, heavy doors
- These features make Hall absolutely still -provides a perception of
the music in its entire dynamic – from lowest pianissimo to deafening
fortissimo 4

11. ground floor level 1
cross section
level 2n

12. level 3 level 4 level 5
cross section
n

13. elevation east
elevation north
elevation south

14. • Canopy above stage
• Movable reverberation chamber doors
• White plaster relief tiles
• Acoustic corridors that isolate all sound
• Below hearing level air circulation system
• Covered in maple
• Optimal 1:1:2 dimensions
• Volume creating soft, round finish
• Goll organ
• Touch-panel controlled hydraulic panels
• Retractable loudspeaker system
• Uniform spatial impression
• Soundproof, heavy entrance door
• Slightly convex panels covered with 24,000 custom designed gypsum
relief elements
Acoustical Features

15. The Congress and Culture Centre was designed by Jean Nouvel and is located in
Lucerne in Switzerland at lake Vierwaldstättersee. The building represents three ships
docked in the lake underneath a huge deck. It is made up of three parts under a cover
of 370 by 350 feet roof structure. These parts include the concert hall, conference
rooms with auditorium and the museum of contemporary art. The structure aligns with
the existing environment and compliments existing landmarks Mount Pilatus and the
old Chapel Bridge. It is said to be one of the best concert halls in the world in terms of
sound.
The hall has a box shape and a capacity for 1900 seats on five levels. Music played in
the hall is classical and meets the highest acoustical requirements. Some acoustical
features include a movable canopy above stage, echo chamber, acoustic corridors and
below hearing level air circulation system. Some materials include reinforced concrete
for the structure, steel for the ceiling, aluminum and more than 16,000 SF of different
types of wood. In contrast to the convention area the concert hall is characterized by its
opacity and incorporates unusual colors such as garnet red, deep green and midnight
blue. During the intermission of the concerts the hall has a roof terrace guests can go
to, which gives them a fantastic panoramic 250 degree view of the city, lake and the
mountains.
Summary

16. Bibliography
By Gabriella Ebbesson
1. https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/KKL_Luzern
2. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=13&ved=0ahUKEwjWqOuY5-TKAhVHHx4KHaLiBDMQFgg-
9MAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.luzern.com%2Ffiles%2F%3Fid%3D64157&usg=AFQjCNG8K7AL1vplMimEJDnLrWhH-Bp5_Q
3. http://www.departures.com/letters/features/architecture-sound
4. https://www.kkl-luzern.ch/en/dienstleistungen/das-kkl-luzern/akkustik
5. https://www.kkl-luzern.ch/en/your-event/your-concert/concert-hall