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DECEMBER 2018 | 41 National Arts Centre Production Renewal PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY GOVERNMENT OF CANADA National Arts Centre Production Renewal by SUSAN PEDERSON W hen the National Arts Centre Orchestra took to the stage in the newly upgraded Orchestra Shell in September, the sound was unspeak- ably clear; the texture of the music was palpable; and even the pianissimo notes audibly resonated throughout the beautiful new space. Some said it sounded as if the orchestra had gained additional instruments. "A colleague commented to me that she had heard Beethoven performed umpteen times before, but it wasn't until she heard Beethoven performed in this newly rejuvenated performance space, that she heard the many nuances of the music for the first time, and could hear all the individual instru- ments," said Alex Gazalé, director, production renewal project, with the National Arts Centre (NAC). The new orchestra shell is the finish- ing touch of a larger rejuvenation and renewal project that began in 2016. "The design intent was to provide more immediacy to the sound, and enhance the audience connection with the orchestra," says Robin Glosemeyer Petrone, principal, with Threshold Acoustics LLC. The orchestra shell is composed of three ceiling panels over the stage, one very large forestage ceiling panel/ reflector, four pivoting forestage tow- ers each side of the stage, and 11 movable on-stage towers. The towers are constructed of a steel and alumi- num back-up structure, and cladded with multi-faceted white oak veneer MDF composite panels with a fibre honeycomb core. "Broadway, dance, theatre, they all need various dimensions of prosce- nium openings, with uninterrupted, dark edges that serve to frame the production beyond," says Peter Rosenbaum, associate principal, Fisher Dachs Associates, Theatre Planning and Design. "To satisfy this require- ment, we developed a strategy for rotating and tracking the pivot walls back offstage to create the maximum opening required, and then adding a third tower to the stage edge [that is hidden away during orchestral events] which has the darker wood stain that pairs with the fourth tower that rotates 180 degrees to create a black masking frame for the proscenium." "The towers and ceiling panels of the enclosure form the proscenium," adds Glosemeyer Petrone. "They are complex panels that can flip to create a smaller profile. They can also flip to the darker wood that doesn't reflect light and detract from the performance. The ceil- ing reflector overhead also tilts up for non-orchestral performances to com- plete the visual proscenium frame." The towers and ceiling panels of the orchestra enclosure are formed from material that is massively stiff in terms of how it reflects sound and they are also appropriately shaped to deflect in different ways as it travels up the walls. "There is less texture at the lower levels and more texture towards the top of the towers," adds Jennifer Mallard, senior associate with Diamond Schmitt Architects. "The tex- ture is prismatic, the recipe of which comes right from the acousticians and is about reflecting sound. "Working with the acousticians is a very iterative process. They know that visual impact is equally important. This is the one piece that has a lot of visual impact and is the most architec- turally present piece of the upgrade." While the upgrades allowed NAC to become a world-class venue, they also caused some logistical issues during the project, as the team dealt with one rather large surprise. The sound system itself (that will be used for such things as announcements or Broadway singers) underwent a major upgrade. Martin Van Dijk, senior consultant and partner with Engineering Harmonics Inc. explains, "The main sound system is comprised of two independent loudspeaker sys- tems from D&B Audio. These systems are fully supported by a complement of smaller support or fill loudspeakers to ensure even coverage throughout

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