Portugese Opera Houses

Engineer & Arquitecture La Salle
Arquitectural and Environmental Acoustics Master
Portuguese
Theatres and
Concert Halls
Acoustics
Music and Acoustics
Francisco Santiago
Barcelona, 15th March of 2007
Engineer & Arquitecture La Salle
Arquitectural and Environmental Acoustics Master
Portuguese
Theatres and
Concert Halls
Acoustics
Music and Acoustics
Coordenation (Spain): Higini Arau

Supervisor (Portugal): Octávio Inácio
Supervisor (Spain): Ivana Russel
Francisco Santiago
Barcelona, 15th March of 2007
Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 1

Índex
Introdution ............................................................................................................... 4
1. Concert Hall Acoustics ........................................................................................ 8
1.1.Quality Subjective Acoustics Factors ........................................................... 11
1.2. Quality Objective Acoustics Factors ........................................................... 13
1.3. Acoustical Designs: Concert , Opera, Theatres and Speech ...................... 20
1.4. The Merit Factor (MF) ................................................................................. 24
2. Acoustic Hall Elements...................................................................................... 28
2.1. Acoustic Seating Area................................................................................. 28
2.2. Chair Absorption ......................................................................................... 29
2.3. Balconies .................................................................................................... 30
2.4. Orchestra Pit............................................................................................... 33
3. Portuguese Theatres History............................................................................. 34
4. XVIIIth Century Theatres .................................................................................... 37
4.1. S. Carlos National Theatre.......................................................................... 37
4.2. São João National Theatre ......................................................................... 41
5. XIXth Century Theatres ...................................................................................... 45
5.1. D. Maria II National Theatre........................................................................ 45
5.2. Garcia Resende Theatre............................................................................. 49
5.3. Sá de Miranda Municipal Theatre ............................................................... 53
5.4. São Luiz Municipal Theatre ........................................................................ 57
5.5. Trindade Theatre ........................................................................................ 61
5.6. Viriato Theatre ............................................................................................ 65
6. XXth Century Theatres ....................................................................................... 70
6.1. Aveirense Theatre ...................................................................................... 70
6.3. Camões Theatre ......................................................................................... 79
6.4. Carlos Alberto Theatre................................................................................ 84
6.5. Faro Municipal Theatre ............................................................................... 88
6.6. Gil Vicente Academic Theatre .................................................................... 93
6.7. Guarda Municipal Theatre .......................................................................... 97

6.8. Helena Sá e Costa Theatre ...................................................................... 101
6.9. Maria Matos Municipal Theatre................................................................. 105
6.10. Politeama Theatre .................................................................................. 109
6.11. Rivoli Municipal Theatre.......................................................................... 113
6.12. Vila Real Municipal Theatre .................................................................... 117
7. Concert Halls................................................................................................... 121
7.1. Aula Magna............................................................................................... 121
7.2. CCB .......................................................................................................... 125
7.3. CAE .......................................................................................................... 129
7.4. Casa da Música ........................................................................................ 133
7.5. CNEMA – Exposition National Centre....................................................... 137
7.6. Oporto Coliseum....................................................................................... 141
7.7. Recreios Coliseum.................................................................................... 146
7.8. Culturgest ................................................................................................. 150
7.9. Europarque ............................................................................................... 155
7.10. Gulbenkian.............................................................................................. 159
7.11. Olga Cadaval Cultural Centre ................................................................. 164
7.12. Vila Flor Cultural Centre.......................................................................... 169
8. Reveberation Time .......................................................................................... 174
9. Early Decay Time ............................................................................................ 176
10. Clarity (C80) .................................................................................................. 178
11. Definition (D50) ............................................................................................. 180
12. Other Data Evaluation ................................................................................... 182
Bibliography......................................................................................................... 191
Terminology and Definitions ................................................................................ 193
Apendix ............................................................................................................... 194
Acoustic Equipment for measurements ........................................................... 194
Measurements Method – MLS......................................................................... 194

Introdution
In the scope of the Tesis in the Architectural and Environmental Acoustics Master,
of the Ramon Llull University - Engineer & Arquitectural La Salle, it was proposed
the realization of a final work to develop a certain theme. Of the given proposal, I
chose the theme about Architectural Acoustics, namely Portuguese Theatres and
Concert Halls Acoustics.
The work consists, mainly, in describing the characteristics of these Theatres and
Concerts Hall, all placed in Portugal, geographicaly separated with a fair
occupation tax during the open seasons.
The first part of the paper is about the definitions of sound propagation in free field
and in enclosure room, where properties like reflaction, difraction, absorption and
difusion are describe. A brief description of Subjective and Objective Quality
Acoustic Factors are given with their respectively mathematical equations, where
its made a correlation between subjective definition with their physical
characteristics that affects the defined acoustical parameters.
One second part is about the relation that should exist between the type of Hall
and optim values and the objective acoustic parameters measured. It is shown a
supose Merit Factor for each parameter and for different purposes for each hall.
After it is describe the process and the equipment of measurements.
There is also presented some characteristics of hall elements that can influence
the sound propagation and of course the qualitity of the hall acoustics, like as, the
Acoustic Seating Area, Balconies, Chair Absorption and Orchestra Pits.

Before describing the acoustics measurements and present each Concert
Hall/Theatre characteristics, it is describe a short Portuguese Theatres History with
the first Roman Theatre established in Lisbon dated of the Ist Century D.C..
The last part describes the Theatres and the Concert hall it self: it is presented a
brief history of the room, an architectural Plant and Cut, some fotographs of the
Hall and its technical data details as the volume, audience and stage superficies,
height, length, width and number of seats, among others. In the final part of each
Theatre and Concert Hall it is presented the results of the measurements where is
shown th TR60, EDT, C80, D50, G and STI.
To carry out this paper some research, that I consider necessary to this type of
theme, had been done and is cited on the bibliography, namely from books of
Acoustics and Architectural Acoustics, as well as in Internet sites. Books like
BARRON, M., “Auditoriun Acostics and Architectural Design”, London, y & FN
Spon, 1993; ARAU, H., “ABC de la Acústica Arquitectónica”, CEAC, Barcelona,
1999 and BERANEK, L., “Concert and Opera Halls: How they sound”, Nova York,
Acoustical Society of America, 1996 were extremely important to develop this
work.
However, there was also another type of research related to the experiences and
studies that were made in a recent past. From the last 30 years that Room
Acoustic has been studied with special attention. Papers like “Influence of
reverberation room volume on measured absorption coefficients” (A.C.C. Warnock;
Ontario - Canada) in 1983 and “Acoustical evaluation of halls for the performing
arts using acoustical model” (Kinsey and Siebein; Florida - EUA) and “New room
acoustics measurement software” (Bradley and Halliwell; Ontario - Canada) in
1996 were important development items in this area.

In the decade of 1990 more progress had been developed in the Room Acoustics
discipline: “Ten years of newer auditorium acoustics measurements” (Bradley;
Ontario - Canada); “Auditorium acoustics: What should we measure? What do we
measure and what does it mean?” (Vian and Pelorson; St. Martin d´Hères -
France), “Measurement of impulse response and its applications in room
acoustics” (Yano and Hidaka; Tokyo - Japan), “Subjective and Objective
evaluations of rooms for music” (Cervone, Chiang and Siebein; Florida - USA)
were papers that tried to conclude about acoustical criterias, subjective and
objective parameters correlation and room measurements experiences (like type of
source, receiver and processing that is used in room acoustic meaurements). The
Impulse Response and the FFT analysis turned into one of the most important
factors on room acoustics and its research.
In 1996 and 1998 two important studies were carried on, respectively, by Bradley
with “Comparisons of room acoustics measurements systems”, where were 23
different measurement systems were compared and Hidaka and Beranek with
“Objective and Subjective measurements of 15 opera houses in Europe and the
USA”, where acoustical parameters were executed, under unoccupied conditions,
like as, RT, EDT, C80, D50 and G, common attributes needed for concert hall
evaluation.
More recently, in 2004, some research was going on based on methods to quatify
Opera houses and Concert hall acoustics: 1) Basic studies like “Acoustical
measurements of sound fields between the stage and the orchestra pit” by Prodi
(Ferrara – Italy) and Sakai (Kobe - Japan) and 2) Measurements, simulations and
auralizations like “An experimental comparative study of 20 Italian opera houses:
Measurements techniques” by A. Farina, Armelloni and Martignon (Parma – Italy)
where it is focused mainly the development and specification of the measurements
technique, describing the hardware equipment, the software, the electro-acoustic
transducers (microphones and loudspeakers), measurements positions and the
conditions of the room during the measurements.

Without the support of many persons this work was not possible. Among them I
owe my deepest thanks to Sónia Raposo Santiago, my wife, for her pacience and
help on critical moments, Octavio Inácio and Ivana Russel for their supervision on
Work and dedicated time, my family for supporting me, João Valente (for his
AUTOCAD help) and Catarina Duarte (for her supervision in English texts).
I also want to thank all the person who help me during the measurements as
Sérgio Milhano, Mónica Almeida and Joaquim Renné (T. M. Maria Matos), José
Nascimento and Sérgio Henriques (T. N. D. Maria II), Patricia Santos (Aula
Magna), Aníbal Rocha, Pedro Lima and Alex Carrasqueira (Centro Cultural Vila
Flor), Paulo Graça and Sofia Matos (CCB), Carla Rosa and Paulo Cabaço
(CNEMA), Teresa Machado and Natércia Simões (CAE), Pinto Coelho and Luís
Barros (Coliseu do Porto), Eugénio Sena (Culturgest), Sandra Sarabando
(Europarque), Catarina Lobo (Gulbenkian), Isabel Worm, Maria José, Ricardo
Magalhães, Mário Pedro and Hugo (Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval), Julio Moreira
and António Ramos (Rivoli), Rui Raposo, Bruno Gomes, Paulo Santos and Lino
Aidos (Teatro Aveirense), Bruno Gonçalves, Cristina Piedade and Marco Arantes
(Teatro Camões), Rui Gonçalves, Nuno Poeira and Anabela Afonso (T. M. Faro),
José Russo and Marlene Charneca (T. Garcia Resende), Américo Rodrigues,
Margarida Esteves and Alberto Lopes (T. M. Guarda), Aida Tavares and Hernani
Saúde (T. N. S. Luiz), Rui Gonçalves (T. Sá de Miranda), Carlos Garcia and Joana
Esteves (T. M. Trindade), Vítor Nogueira and Pedro P. Cabral (T.M. Vila Real),
Francisco Paz (T. A. Gil Vicente), José Fernandes (Teatro Viriato), Félix (Teatro
Politeama), Paolo Pinamonti, Joana Camacho and Ester Pieri (T.N.S. Carlos),
Emanuel Pina and Miguel Ângelo (TeCA), Salvador Santos and Carlos Miguel
(T.N.S.João), José Torrão and Rosália Antunes (Coliseu de Lisboa), José
Barradas and José Prata (T.M. Bragança), Carlos Lopes (Casa da Música),
Margarida Carronda (T. Helena Sá e Costa), Luís Henrique (LAM Director), Hugo
Romão, Ricardo Sousa, Luís Martins, Ricardo Mendes, Pina Cabral e Rui David
(Operação Digisis/CentralSoft) and Rui Henriques.

1. Concert Hall Acoustics
In the broader sense, acoustics is the physics of sound, treated in all of its aspects.
Up until the early 20th century, 'sound' and 'acoustics' referred to elastic vibrations
and waves in the audible human range, but today, there are large fields of
acoustics dealing with vibrations and waves not associated directly or indirectly
with the hearing process, and often with frequencies and intensities above and
below the human audible limits.
Architectural acoustics refers to the study and design of sound transmission in

enclosed spaces. The acoustics of a room are its qualities related to sound
transmission and reception.
Sound is a sequence of waves of pressure which propagates through compressible

media such as air or water. (Sound can propagate through solids as well, but there
are additional modes of propagation). During their propagation, waves can be
reflected, refracted, or attentuated by the medium. The purpose of this experiment
is to examine what effect the characteristics of the medium have on sound. [13]
All media have three properties which affect the behavior of sound propagation:
1. A relationship between density and pressure. This relationship, affected by

temperature, determines the speed of sound within the medium.
2. The motion of the medium itself, e.g., wind. Independent of the motion of sound
through the medium, if the medium is moving, the sound is further transported.
3. The viscosity of the medium. This determines the rate at which sound is
attenuated. For many media, such as air or water, attenuation due to viscosity is
negligible [21].

Sound behaviour characteristics:
¾ Reflection: If a sound is not absorbed or transmitted when it strikes a

surface, it will be reflected. The law for reflection is the same as that for
light, i.e. the angle of incidence of a sound wave equals the angle of
reflection, just as if it were produced by a 'mirror image' of the stimulus on
the opposite side of the surface. However, this law of reflection holds only
when the wavelenght of the sound is small compared to the dimensions of
the reflecting surface.
¾ Diffraction: The phenomenon in sound propagation whereby a sound wave
moves around an object whose dimensions are smaller than or about equal
to the wavelenght of the sound. When the wavelength is similar to the
dimensions of the object, as with low frequencies and buildings, or mid-
range frequencies and the head, the wave diffracts around the object, using
its edges as a focal point from which to generate a new wavefront of the
same frequency but reduced intensity.
¾ Absorption: The loss or dissipation of sound energy in passing through a
material or on striking a surface, usually through conversion to heat energy.
¾ Diffusion: The comparative distribution of sound pressure variations
throughout a given space, or the process by which a sound wave is
distributed in the space. If sound pressure is uniformly distributed
throughout the space, the sound is said to be well diffused. Good diffusion
can be achieved by several methods of architectural design.
¾ Reffraction: The speed of sound in air is affected by the temperature of the
medium, the wave moving faster at higher temperatures and slower at cool
temperatures. When parts of a sound wave are in layers of a medium at
different temperatures, and therefore are travelling at different velocities, the
direction of propagation of the wave changes. This effect is called refraction
[13].

In a room, there are a very large number of possible paths from the source to the
receiver, involving various reflections off the room boundaries; the combination of
all these paths determines how sound behaves in the room. As a result, sound
levels in a room do not continue to decrease with increasing distance from the
source for all distances.
Image 1
An illustration of the paths that sound travels from the musician to the listener. (Direct sound and four early refleted
sound waves out of many that may occur in the early time period of 80 msec.) - Image from BERANEK “Concert
and Opera Halls: How they sound”
Although sound levels initially decrease with increasing distance from the source,
as they would in the absence of reflections, after some distance from the source,
sound levels become relatively constant as distance is further increased. Closer to
the source, sound levels depend on the properties of the source and the distance
to the source, but further away, sound levels are dominated by the reverberant
sound energy, which depends on the properties of the room. The harder and more
reflective are the room boundaries, the more reverberant sound energy there will
be and the higher will be the reverberant levels in the room. Conversely, for a given
room boundary material, reverberant field sound levels will decrease as the surface
area is increased because more reverberant energy will be absorbed [3].

Until the turn of this century, auditorium acoustics owed very litlle to science. For a
few designers before this century, the experience of building many auditoria
inspired a fell for good acoustic design, but sadly they chose for their own reasons
not to publicise their secrets. Valiant attemps at summaries of acoustic knowlegde
by interested architects such as Vitruvius in the first century BC (1960) and much
more recently Smith (1895) failed to fulfil their promise as serious guides to design.
“For most designers acoustic design was a matter of heavy reliance on precedents.
The achievements of this trial-and-error approach have been considerable. The
Greek classical theatre, the Roman arena, the Roman theatre, the Baroque
theatre, the traditional Opera house, the English playhouse and the so called
classical rectangular concert hall were developed with almost no science of
auditorium acoustics”. [3]
1.1.Quality Subjective Acoustics Factors
In recent years a commom language of acoustics has developed out of the

dialogue between musicians and acousticians. Not every musician is familiar with
all the terms. Nevertheless, the list compiled here results from a studied
compromise from interviews with musicians and concert aficonados and from
literature about Theatresand Concert Halls. Another group, music critics, provide a
useful foil as they may describe a new concert hall with words that cannot serve as
guides to succesful acoustical design. [3]
The terms below cover all the important aspects of music performed in the
acoustics of a closed space:
Liveness or Reverberance: Characterized by the reverberation time of
primarily the high and medium frequency ranges. Determined by volume of
room and effective surface area. Can be altered by changing area and
nature of absorbing materials. Suitability depends on nature of sound or
music.

Clarity vs Fullness: Measure of intensity of the direct sound relative to the
reverberant or reflected sound. The greater the reflected intensity, the more
"full" the room is perceived and the less clear the spoken word or fast or
highly articulated sections of music are perceived. Clarity is sacrificed in a
"muddy" room but a lesser degree of clarity enhances slow passages of
music from the romantic era. To achieve greater clarity or "definition" the
entire audience should be close to the stage and have an unobstructed
view.
Intimacy: Connected to clarity. The time between the arrival of the direct
sound and the first reflection determines the listener's perceived proximity to
the performers. An intimate feeling occurs when the initial time delay is
between 8 and 20ms.
Warmth vs. Brilliance: This character is determined by the reverb time of the
low frequencies relative to the medium and high frequency ranges. In
general, the reverb time is a little longer for frequencies below 500Hz than
those above. For a nearly constant reverb time as a function of frequency,
the room may be classified as "bright" or "brilliant". The longer the lower
frequency reverb time is the warmer the room.
Uniformity and Diffusion: Uniform spatial distribution of both direct and
reflected sounds throughout the audience. Uniformity in the direct sound can
be achieved by minimizing the distance between first and last rows, e.g., a
shallow hall with several balconies. Hot spots, caused by the focusing effect
of curved walls or domed ceilings, reduce uniformity as well as do dead
spots or "shadows" caused by physical obstructions or balcony openings.
Texture or Smoothness: For a smooth room there should be no more than
20-30ms between successive reflections reaching a point in the audience
and the intensity of the reflections should smoothly die away in time.
Envelopment: Early reflections, those arriving in the first 100ms, should
arrive from all directions in order to give the listener a sense of
envelopment. Recent designs have given more attention to the importance
of lateral reflections.

Balance or Blend: Sound coming from different locations on the stage
should have balanced intensities. Somewhat related to uniformity. This is
generally a problem for seats close to a wide stage. This situation can be
balanced with a low, irregularly shaped ceiling and appropriate onstage
reflecting surfaces.
Sense of Ensemble or Performer Satisfaction: The performers must be able
to hear themselves and the other performers. There should be many
reflections strong enough to be heard by the performers but the reflections
should decay uniformly and in a time shorter than the shortest time between
notes. Flutter echoes reflecting from parallel side walls must be avoided.
Acoustic shells increase the sense of ensemble and helps to project more of
the sound toward the audience. Ensembles in which members are
separated by more than approximately 5 meters easily lose synchronicity
and need a conductor to give visual cues [21].
1.2. Quality Objective Acoustics Factors
Reverberation Time (RT60)
RT60 is the time it takes for a loud sound to decay to inaudibility after its source is
cut off. It is defined as the level difference of -60 dB. It is normally evaluated over
the -5 to -35 dB (RT30) decay of sound and multiplied by the factor of 2 for
conformity with RT60. These factors are necessary to make the measurements
comparable with each other and with the more historical measurement of RT60,
which is evaluated over a 60 dB sound decay.
Reverberation Time is the global quantitative criterion of the sound field in the
room. Room reverberation gives fullness and singing tone to the music. The
reverberation time must be in the proper range depending on the room size and
the style of music [5].

Sabine TR60 Equation
0.162
T=
Sa s
where:
a1S1 + a2 S 2 + ... + an S n n
as = ; S = ∑ Si
S i =1
Arau TR60 Equation:
Sx S Sy S Sz S
 0.162V   0.162V   0.162V 
T =  
 − S ln (1 − α x ) 
  − S ln (
1 − α )
y 

 
 − S ln (1 − α z ) 
where:
S x1α x1 + S x 2α x 2
a x = − ln(1 − α x ) αx =
Sx
S y1α y1 + S y 2α y 2
a y = − ln(1 − α y ) αy =
Sy
S z1α z1 + S z 2α z 2
a z = − ln(1 − α z ) αz =
Sz
Eyring Norris TR60 Equation:
0.162V 0.162V
T= =
Sa − S ln(1 − α )
where:
α 1 S 1 + α 2 S 2 + ... + α n S n
α = α < 0 .3
S
Millington y Sette TR60 Equation:
0.162V
T= n
; ai = ln(1 − α i )
∑S a
i =1
i i
where:
a i = ln(1 − α i )
FitzRoy TR60 Equation:
S   0.162V   S y   0.162V   S z   0.162V 

T = x   +     +  
 S   − S ln(1 − α x )   S   − S ln(1 − α )
y   S   − S ln(1 − α z ) 
where:
a x = − ln(1 − a x ); a y = − ln(1 − a y ); a z = − ln(1 − a z )
Kutruff TR60 Equation:
V
T = 0.163
Sα ' '
Early Decay Time EDT (sec)
The EDT is a reverberation time derived from the initial 10 dB of decay. It is the
length of time that it takes for the sound to decay 10 dB after the sound source is
turned off. EDT more closely corresponds to subjective evaluation of the
reverberation time then RT. It affects principally the hall’s support to the voice and
adds definition to the higher tones of music [5].
The measurement is multiplied by the factor of 6 to make it comparable with RT60.

Clarity C80, C50 (dB)
The measurement of Clarity is the ratio of the energy in the early sound compared
to that in the reverberant sound, expressed in dB. Early sound is what is heard in
the first 80 msec (C50 - 50 msec) after the arrival of the direct sound. It is a
measure of the degree to which the individual sounds stand apart from one
another.
If the clarity is too low, the fast parts of the music are not "readable" anymore. C80
is a function of both the architectural and the stage set design. If there is no
reverberation in a dead room, the music will be very clear and C80 will have a large
positive value. If the reverberation is large, the music will be unclear and C80 will
have a relatively high negative value. C80 becomes 0 dB, if the early and the
reverberant sound is equal. Often the values for 500Hz, 1000Hz and 2000Hz are
averaged [5].
80 ms
∫ (t )
2
p
C80 = 10 log 0 ms
∞
∫ (t )
2
p
80 ms
Definition - D50
Definition is the ration of early sound energy to the total sound energy in Percent
(%). It shows the difference of the level at the time range 0 - 50 ms as against the
level at integration over the entire time range from zero to the end.
The larger this parameter, the more distinct the sound signal is felt, because it will
then be less disturbed by later diffuse sound. In concert hall acoustics it refers to
the degree to which individual strands in a musical presentation can be
differentiated from each other [5].
Horizontal Definition defines the degree to which sounds that follow one
another stand apart.
Vertical Definition defines the degree to which simultaneous sounds can be
heard separately.

50 ms
∫p
2
(t )
D50 = 0 ms
∞
∫ (t )
2
p
0
Centre Time (Tc)

It is the first-order momentum of the squared pressure impulse response, along the
time axis, starting from the arrival of the direct wave. It is usually expressed in ms.
Strength - G (dB)
The strength G is defined as the difference between the sound level at listeners
position in the hall and the level of the same source in free field in the reference
distance 10 m from the centre of the source (in dB).
The strength of the sound, which is related to loudness, is a quantity that must be
as uniform as possible throughout the hall [5].
∞
∫p
2
(t )dt
G500 Hz + G1KHz
Gmid = 10 log ∞0 G mid = (dB)
2
∫p
2
A (t )dt
0
Bass Ratio, Bass Strength – BR

BR is a measure of the support which the reverberation in the hall gives to the low
notes of the music. The Bass Ratio is objective counterpart of the subjective
criterion "Warmth". It is the ratio of the EDT between low frequencies (octaves 125
and 250 Hz) and medium frequencies (octaves 500 and 1000 Hz) [2].
The preferred values of the BR are between 1.1 to 1.25 for halls with high RT's,
and 1.1 to 1.45 for halls with RT's of 1.8 sec or less.
T125 Hz + T250 Hz TLOW (T125 Hz + T250 Hz ) 2

I BR = = =
T500 Hz + T1KHz TMID (T500 Hz + T1KHz ) 2

Brightness, Bright Strength – Br
Br is a measure of the support which the reverberation in the hall gives to the high
notes of the music. The Brightness Ratio is objective counterpart of the subjective
criterion "Brightness". It is the ratio of the EDT between high frequencies (octaves
2000 and 4000 Hz) and medium frequencies (octaves 500 and 1000 Hz) [2].
T2 KHz + T4 KHz THIGH (T2 KHz + T4 KHz ) 2

I Br = = =
T500 Hz + T1KHz TMID (T500 Hz + T1KHz ) 2
STI
For STI testing, a test signal with speech-like characteristics is used. STI employs
a complex amplitude modulation scheme to generate the test signal. The received
signal in the measurement system is compared with the test signal concerning the
depth of modulation in a number of frequency bands. Reductions in the modulation
depth represent a loss of intelligibility [5].
The Measurement of STI is defined by the standard IEC 60268-16.
STI = −0,1845 ln(% ALcons ) + 0,9482

( S N ) ap + 15
STI =
30
RASTI
RASTI, Rapid Speech Transmission Index, is a more simplified version of STI.
A modulated test signal is fed to a loudspeaker at the talker's location. The
receiver's microphone is positioned at the receiving listeners location. The system
gives a direct read out of the measured RASTI value at the receiver position
RASTI can also take account of the effects of reverberation, as well as background
noise. It tests in only two frequency bands, with the assumption that the response
of the sound system is more than 100 Hz to 8 kHz or higher with a flat frequency
response. A RASTI value is in the range 0 to 1.

Stage Support - ST1
Is a measure of strength of orchestral sound returned by nearby reflecting surfaces
to the ears of each player in the orchestra, the acoustical support, that a hall gives
a player on stage. Measured as the ratio of the arriving sound energy at the first 10
msec and the arriving sound energy between 20 and 100 msec.
Measurement source is an omnidirectional sound source in a distance of 1 meter.
The sound arriving in the later interval has been reflected in the hall and the stage
environment already. The measurements are made at several positions and the
data are averaged.
Interaural Cross Correlation Coefficient IACC

To evaluate the spatial property of the sound field, it is the measure of the
difference in the sounds arriving at two ears of listener facing the performing entity
in a hall, measured for six octave bands between 125 and 4000 Hz. IACC is
usually measured with a dummy head. IACC is defined as the maximum value of
the cross-correlation function within ±1 msec.
Initial Time Delay Gap ITDG (msec)

The time difference between the arrival of the direct sound and the earliest and
most significant reflection (at a listener's seat in the hall), excluding the reflections
from the floor. It is measured in msec. It corresponds to the subjective impression
of 'intimacy'. (Preferred values don´t exceed 20 msec.)
Lateral Fraction – LF
LF is determine by the ratio of the output of a figure-8 microphone with its null axis
pointed to the source of the sound, divided by the output of a non-directional
microphone at the same position. LF covers the time period of 0 to 80 msec and is
the average of the LF´s in the four frequency bands – 125, 250, 500 and 1000 Hz.
(These last four parameters ST1, IACC, ITDG and LF were not measured in these
work).

1.3. Acoustical Designs: Concert , Opera, Theatres and Speech
According to varius autors, there are some correlation between Objective
Parameters and the types of room, due to her purpose: Concert Hall, Opera
House, Theatre, Speech or Pop/Rock.
According to Arau, we can correlate some optim values for Acoustic Parameters
with the type of music that is played in the room, like Theatres and Chamber
Music:
Parameter Theatre Chamber Músic
Reverberation Time O,87 < TMid < 1,33 1,32 < TMid <1.85
Bass Ratio (BR) 0,9 < I BR < 1,3 1 < I BR <1,3
Brightness (Br) I Br > 0,8 I Br > 0,8
EDT 0,7 < EDTMID* < 1,17 1,16 < EDTMID*<1,29
Clarity Índex (C80) C80 > 4 dB -2 < C80 < 4 dB
Def. Índex (D50) D50 > 60% 45% < D50 < 60%
Inteligibility 0,5 -
Echoes No No
Factor G G > 0 dB G > 0 dB
* Calculated from TMid = 1,29 s
Table 1
Aceptable Objective parameters for Theatre and Chamber Music.
From “ABC de la Acústica Arquitectónica” de H. Arau.
According to Carrión, the relation between RTmid Occupied and the type of the
room can be:
Room Type TRmid Room Occupied
Conferences Room 0,7 – 1,0
Cinema 1,0 – 1,2
Multi-Room 1,2 – 1,5
Theatre and Ópera 1,2 – 1,5
Concert Hall (Chamber Music) 1,3 – 1,7
Concert Hall (Sinfhonic Music) 1,8 – 2,0
Catedral Church 2,0 – 3,0
Radio 0,2 – 0,4
Table 2
RTmid Occupied and type of room.
From “Diseño Acústico de espacios arquitectónicos” de A. Carrión

According to Barron, and other autors, the valorization of the parameter STI his
given like:
%ALCons STI/RASTI Subjetive Valorization
1,4 % - 0 % 0,88 – 1 Excellent
4,8 % - 1,6 % 0,66 – 0,86 Good
11,4 % - 5,3 % 0,5 – 0,64 Fair
24,2 % - 12 % 0,36 – 0,49 Poor
46,5 % - 27 % 0,24 – 0,34 Bad
Table 3
Subjective valorization of STI parameter.
From “Auditorium Acoustics and architectural design” by M. Barron.
Carvalho achieve, in his work about Portuguese Church Acoustics, an equation

between the differents objective acoustic parameters:
Equation Reference
EDT = 0,043 + 0,941 TR 0,98
EDT = 0,219 + 0,013 TS 0,88
C80 = 2,88 – 5,572 ln (TR) 0,56
C80 = 2,78 – 5,735 ln (EDT) 0,61
C80 = 30,94 – 6,422 ln (Tc) 0,86
2
D50 = 0,357 + 0,048*C80 + 0,016(C80) 0,88
D50 = 1,562 – 0,25 ln (TS) 0,71
Tc = 17,82 + 64,203 TR 0,83
Table 4
Relation between EDT, RT, C80 and D50.
From “Acústica Ambiental e de Edifícios” by A. Carvalho
According to Carrión, there are some correlation between the type of the room and
the RTopt (500Hz) and the C80:

Function TROpt (500 Hz) C80 (dB)
Auditory 0,7 – 0,8 >6
Theatre 0,7 – 0,9 >5
Cinema 0,8 - 1 >6
Recording Studio 0,4 – 0,6 >6
Ópera (No Wagneriana) 1,3- 1,7 3a4
Ópera (Wagneriana) 1,8 – 1,9 1a2
Chamber Music 1,4 – 1,7 -1 a 1
Symphonic Barroc Music 1,4 – 1,6 0a2
Symphonic Classic Music 1,6 - 1,8 -1 a 0
Symphonic Romantic Music 1,9 – 2,2 -2 a -1
Symphonic Modern Music 1,4 – 1,9 -1 a 0
Pop Music 0,8 – 1 >6
Organ Music 2,5 – 3,5 < -2
Gregorian Choir 3-4 -3 a -1
Table 5
Optim Reverberation Time at 500Hz, C80 and type of room.
From “Diseño Acústico de espacios arquitectónicos” de A. Carrión
The relation between Volume and the Audience Area and the Reverberation Time,
can be achieved in the architec project, according to the purpose of the hall. When
the architec knows the medium hall size, the capacity of the hall and the purpose,
he should follow some correlation between these parameters. H. Arau shows that,
for concert hall, theatres and Opera Houses, the relation should be:
(A)
____ Wrong Projected Hall (the doble arrow (↔) shows the minimum absorption necessary to correct the excess of RT)
3 2
……. Good Projected Hall: V = 9700m ; Tmid = 1,91seg; V/SA = 14m; SA = 692,8m

(B)
In this case there is no amphi-theatre audience shape (β=0)

3 2
____ Good Projected Hall: V = 6000m ; Tmid =1,09seg; β=0; V/SA= 8m; SA=750m
(C)
In this case there is no amphi-theatre audience shape with a proportion of (β=0,16)

3 2
____ Good Projected Hall: V = 12000m ; Tmid =1,33seg; β=0,16; V/SA= 11,35m; SA=1058m
Image 2
(A), (B) and (C): Correlation between the RTmid and the Volume and the Audience Area (V/SA).
From “ABC de la Acústica Arquitectónica” de H. Arau, fr Concert Hall, Theatre and Opera House respectively.

1.4. The Merit Factor (MF)
The Merit Factor (MF) for Reverberation Time - RTmid – is:
0 to RTmid ≤ 0,9 RTopt – 0,5

1 –(1,8RTopt–2RTmid) to 0,9 RTopt - 0,5 < RTmid < 0,9RTopt
M Tmid 1 to 0,9RTopt ≤ RTmid ≤ RTopt
1 – 2(RTmid – RTopt) to RTopt < RTmid < RTopt+0,5
0 to RTmid ≥ RTopt+0,5
RTmid - Measured or Calculated value

RTopt – Optim value for that kind of event
The MF for Bass Ratio – BR – parameter is:
For Music:
0 to IBR ≤ 0,85
4 IBR – 3,4 to 0,85 ≤ IBR < 1,1
MF BR 1 to 1,1 ≤ IBR ≤ 1,3
6,2 – 4 IBR to 1,3 < IBR < 1,55
0 to IBR ≥ 1,55
For Theatre
0 to IBR ≤ 0,65
4 IBR – 2,6 to 0,65 ≤ IBR < 0,9
MF BR 1 to 0,9 ≤ IBR ≤ 1,3
6,2 – 4 IBR to 1,3 < IBR < 1,55
0 to IBR ≥ 1,55
The MF for Brightness – Br – is:
0 to IBr ≤ 0,45
2,86 IBr – 1,29 to 0,45 < IBr < 0,8
MF Br 1 to 0,8 ≤ IBr ≤ 1
3,857 – 2,86 IBr to 1 < IBr < 1,35
0 to IBr ≥ 1,35

The MF for Early Decau Time – EDT:
A Homogeneous Sound Difusion means an uniform distribution, where the sound
pressure level fall is praticaly linear. In this case, there is no difference between the
EDT and TR values. However, a No-Homogeneous Absorption Distribution which
is the real case of all rooms, means the the distribution is not uniform. In general,
the EDT values are smaller than TR60.
The EDT is more related with the subjective impression of a hall than RT60, which
means that, one hall with an EDT with a smaller values than RT60 will be,
aparentely, more “dead” to music but with a good intelegibility (STI).
To Theatres EDTmid should be between 0,6RTmid and 0,75RTmid, to Opera between
0,75RTmid and RTmid, and to Concert between 0,9RTmid and RTmid.
For Concerts:
0 to EDTmid ≤ 0,4Tmid
2(EDTmid/Tmid)– 0,8 to 0,4Tmid < EDTmid ≤ 0,9Tmid
MF EDT 1 to 0,9Tmid < EDTmid ≤ Tmid
EDTmid/Tmid to EDTmid > Tmid
For Opera:
2(EDTmid/Tmid)– 0,5 to 0,25Tmid < EDTmid < 0,75Tmid
MF EDT 1 to EDTmid ≥ 0,75Tmid
And for Theatre:
4(EDTmid/Tmid)– 1,4 to 0,35Tmid < EDTmid < 0,6Tmid
MF EDT 1 to 0,6Tmid ≤ EDTmid ≤ 0,75Tmid
1,75-(EDTmid/Tmid) to EDTmid > 0,75Tmid
The MF for Definition - D50:
For Concert halls, the D50 between 500 Hz and 1000 Hz, near to 0,5 is a good
value. The more the Índex grow, the more the subjective acoustic perception gets
worse to symphonic orchestra performance. If Definition grows it means that the
room is more prepared/calculated to Speech – Theatre or Conferences. Any value
bigger than 0,7 is adquate to Speech Rooms.

For Music Concert:
0 to D ≤ 0,35
4D-1 to 0,25 < D < 0,6
MF D50 1 to 0,5 < D ≤ 0,75
1,93-1,43D to D > 0,65
For Theatre:
0 to D ≤ 0,45
MF D50 5D-2,25 to 0,45 < D ≤ 0,65
1 to D > 0,65
The MF for Clarity - C80:

With a C80 high means that the first sound energy is bigger than the latest sound
energy, which means that the sound is very clear. In the first 80 ms it is produced
much more reflections that come from walls and ceillings near to the listener
related to other surfaces of the room. When this happens we have an EDT much
smalers than the TR60 measured.
For orchestral music a C80 of 0dB to -4dB is often preferred, but for rehearsals
often conductors express satisfaction about a C80 of 1dB to 5dB, because every
detail can be heard. For singers, all values of clarity between +1 and +5 seem
acceptable. C80 should be generally in the range of -4dB and +4dB. For speech, in
comparison to music, the Clarity will be measured as the ratio of the first 50 msec
(C50) instead of 80 msec (C80) for music. So, for
Concert Hall: -2dB < C80 < 4dB
Ópera House: 2dB < C80 < 6 dB
Theatre Room: C80 > 6dB
For Concert:
0 to C80 ≤ -9
1,62+0,18C80 to -9 < C80 ≤ -4
MF C80 1,10+0,05C80 to -4 < C80 ≤ -2
1 to -2 < C80 ≤ 4
1,6-0,16C80 to 4 < C80 ≤ 10
0 to C80 > 10

For Opera:
0 to C80 ≤ 0
C80/2 to 0 < C80 ≤ 2
MF C80 1 to 2 < C80 ≤ 6
2- C80/6 to 6 < C80 ≤ 12
0 to C80 > 12
And for Theatre:
0 to C80 ≤ 0
MF C80 C80/6 to 0 < C80 ≤ 6
1 to C80 > 6
The MF for Factor Strenght - G: (measured from 125 Hz to 4kHz)
It is convenient that the G values of the different points of the room and for the
different range octaves band will be superior to 0 dB. This value is related to the
room sonority impression and depends of the first reflections energy and the TR.
Recently, itwas discovered that this parameter depend much more of EDT than
TR.
The Merit factor for G parameter is:
0 to (L-L0) ≤ -10
MF G 1+ (L-L0) /10 to -10 < (L-L0) ≤ 0
1 to (L-L0) > 0
The MF for Inteligibility - STI:
The Inteligibility Índex is not a fundamental parameter for Concert Halls, but for
Theatres. In fact, inteligibility doesn´t have to be good for music, while for theatre it
is crucial.
It is a mathematic function that depends of TR, signal/noise relation in the room
and possible echoes.
The Merit factor for STI parameter is:
0 to 0 ≤ STI ≤ 0,3
MF STI 2,22*STI-0,67 to 0,3 ≤ STI ≤ 0,75
1 to STI > 0,75
Global Merit Factor
It is achieved by the arithmetic mean of all factors: FMGlobal = ∑ FMi/n
We should compare the Global value related to the minimiun FM that was obtained
from the parameters measured. If the ERROR that exist between them and the
mean is be superior to 0,2, and the values of FMGlobal inferior to 0,8, the room
acoustic should be studied again in the parameters that are not correct [2].
2. Acoustic Hall Elements

2.1. Acoustic Seating Area
According to Barron, to calculate the effective absorving area of audience,

allowence is made for the three-dimensional nature of chairs and people by a
adding a perimeter strip round the seating area in plan.
A perimeter strip 0,5 metre wide is added to the true seating area, except where it
abuts walls and along balcony fronts.
When aisles between seating are less than 1m wide, only the aisle area is taken.
When this acoustic area is used, the appropriate coefficients are as given in tables
in 1.6. (according to Carrión), Absorption by seated audience is little influenced by
the quality of the seating itself, whereas values vary depending on the degree of
the upholstery [10].
Image 3
Acoustic Seating Area based on adding a 0,5 perimeterstrip round thr true seating area. Image from “Auditorium
Acoustics and Architectural Design” by M. Barron.

2.2. Chair Absorption
In the next tables is shown the results of a Beranek studies about the absorption of
different types of chairs, realized on several kind of halls. The results are related to
different type of chairs depending of the degree of upholstery. The three types are:
Chairs with a maximum degree of upholstery (ChMaxUp)
Chairs with a medium degrre of upholstery (ChMedUp)
Chairs with a minimum degrre of upholstery (ChMinUp)
Freq. (Hz) 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000

ChMaxUp 0,76 0,83 0,88 0,91 0,91 0,89
ChMedUp 0,68 0,75 0,82 0,85 0,86 0,86
ChMinUp 0,56 0,68 0,79 0,83 0,86 0,86
Oc = Occupied Chairs
Table 6
Three different types of Occupied chair absorption from 125 Hz to 4000Hz .
Freq. (Hz) 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000

ChMaxUp 0,72 0,79 0,83 0,84 0,83 0,79
ChMedUp 0,56 0,64 0,70 0,72 0,68 0,62
ChMinUp 0,35 0,45 0,57 0,61 0,59 0,55
Un = Unoccupied Chairs
Table 7
Three different types of Unoccupied chair absorption from 125 Hz to 4000Hz .
From “Diseño Acústico de Espacios Arquitectónicos” by A. Carrión.
The conclusions of the previous table are:
Absorption grows in all frequencies from unnocupied to occupied chairs.

Occupied chairs absorption grows with the percentage of upholstery chairs,
specially on low frequencies.
Absorption grows with the frequency until 1kHz. From this especific
frequency in the case of unoccupied chairs, the aborption level falls, due to
a shadow effect caused by chairs called the Seat Dip Effect. [10].

(A)
(B)
(C)
Image 4
(A) Chairs with a maximum degree of upholstery, (B) Chairs with a medium degrre of upholstery and (C)Chairs with
a minimum degrre of upholstery. Image from Diseño acústico de espacios arquitectónicos by A. Carrión.
2.3. Balconies
The Reverberation Time, and more pertinentely early decay time, should take care
of the temporal aspects of revrberant sound, providing adequate liveness and
sufficient room response. However, the directional distribution of the reverberant
sound is also important as our ears can respond to spatial effectsgenerated by
early reflections and those produced by later reverberant sound [3].
Balconies which overhang audience seating are a feature of most large concert
halls. Clearly, seats below overhangs are disadvantaged both visually and

acoustically. As a general principle, a balcony can cause, acoustically, a loss of
intimacy and a sense of detachment from the acoustics of the main space.
Hawever, this loss is not uniform with reflction delay. In a hall with balcony the
early sound level is barely influenced by the presence of an overhang, where the
side walls reflections are usually unaffected and the presence of a nearby rear wall
probably compensates the obscured reflections caused by the surface [3].
Image 5
Recommended designs for excellent balcony overhangs in concert halls. As a general principle, D should not
exceed H. Angle ө should not be less than 45 degrees. The underbalcony rear wall should be shaped to reflect the
direct sound toward the heads of the listeners [3]
In acoustic terms, the effect under a balcony is to both increase objective clarity
and decreased the early decay time, resulting in a decreased sense of
reverberation. Normally is this sense of reverberation that is perceived as lack of
loudness. To mitigate, a little, this effect, in some cases, the existence of a gap
behind the balcony can allow sound to filter round, giving a sense of some sound
from behind for those below the overhang [ 3 ].

Image 6
Three relatively satisfactory balcony designs: F. Mann Audtorium (Tal-Aviv) with no overhang; Jubilee auditoriums
(Edmonton and Calgary, Canada) with little overhang and wide openings; Symphony Hall (Boston) with a center
balcony with good acoustics except for the last three rows of seats that do not receive sound from the upper part of
the hall [3]
In order to provide extra reflections, the designer can profille the balcony soffit,
however, as these are early reflections, this is only serve to increase further
objective clarity. Maintaining a high opening at the overhang avoids the problem of
lack of reverberance, but removes one of the main design gains of balcony.
According to Beranek, the depth beyond the overhang should not exceed the
height at the opening [5].
In this study there are six halls with balconies: Maria Matos Municipal Theatre, Gil
Vicente Academic Theatre, Aveirense Theatre, Olga Cadaval Cultural Centre,
Oporto Coliseum and S. Luiz Municipal Theatre.

2.4. Orchestra Pit
The ability of an instrumental player to play in time with a singer is obviously

important, yet most performers commented that thay would like to. For the
performer himself some sense of the sound he is producing returning from the
auditorium is likewise a characteristic of most performing environments. The
amount of sound returning to the back of the pit is generally very small. In acoustic
terms the overhung section of a pit behaves like a coupled space to the auditorium,
with double-slope reverberant decays. The initial slope of the decay is determined
by the local acoustic conditions in th epit with decay rates corresponding to
reverberation times of only 0,35 – 0,7 seconds. Thereafter the decay behaves as in
the auditorium.
A solution to these various problems is not in most cases easy to achieve. The
prinecipal non-acoustic variables are the physical dimensions of the pit, the degree
of cover and the height of the opening.
Typical dimensions are given below. The top of the orchestra rail is generally in line
with the stage. The degree of overhang extends in some houses considerably
further than 2m mentioned in the figure. The depth of the opening should be a
minimum of 2m but it should be higher for pits with larger overhangs to allow
musicians to maintain some visual contact with the auditorium [ 3 ].
Image 7
Typical opera house pit dimensio: Stage overhang V, 1-2m; pit depth D, 2,5-3,5m; orchestra rail height H, 1m. Image
from Auditorium Acoustics and architectural design by M. Barron.

3. Portuguese Theatres History
The first “portuguese” theatre was found in 1798 and comes from the time of
Imperator Augusto in Roman Era and was remodelated by the Imperator Nero on
the Ist Century D.C. : TEATRO ROMANO DE LISBOA. However, it mus be said
that since this discovery, in XVIIIth Century, all performing art halls hadn´t been
treated or taken care by the Portuguese governement until the end of the XXth
Century [15].
In fact, the portuguese theatres history had been a sucession of demolitions, with
several damages to the social and cultural portuguese life, as an example of that
the destruction of the primitive buildings after the XIXth century that represented
great architectural references to the world theatres constructions.
This first Roman theatre is a singular case since the Ist Century to the XVIIth
century when the portuguese cultur with her dramatic literature started to grow.
The first concert halls/theatres appeared in that century constructed in order to
serve Opera purposes:TEATRO DA RIBEIRA (1755), the TEATRO S. CARLOS
(1793) both in Lisbon and TEATRO. S. JOÃO (1798) in Oporto city.
It is after the inauguration of TEATRO D. MARIA II in 1846 that Portugal verifies a
very huge and consistent movimentation on theatres construction and adaptations
in order to provide performing arts halls, most of them similar to the Italian structure
that had been stablished in all europe.
In the turn of the XXth century there were almost 150 theatres in activity in Portugal,
but just after the 20´s, something new came up: the CINE-TEATROS, a second
generation of theatres/concert hall buildings to serve mainly the boom of a new
entertainment era: the Cinema.
Finally, it was in the end of the XXth century and in the beginning of this one that
were constructed and projected theatres/concert halls that beside their specific
function for performing arts, are unique points of cultural and social life. It´s in this
period that almost every Town Halls, all around the country, after three centurys of
demolitions and bad policy, are taking care (finally) the theatres and concert halls,
the old and the new ones [15].
The first portuguese public art space appeared in 1590 by the hand of Fernão Dias
de la Torre and was called PÁTIO DAS ARCAS in Rua Augusta and after 30
years, others like as PÁTIO DA FARINHA in 1619 both in down town of Lisbon.
In the beginning of the XVIIth century these kind of spaces, dedicated to performing
arts, were in fact Theatres for the purposes of that time, like: PÁTIO DA
MOURARIA and PÁTIO DAS HORTAS DO CONDE located at Rua do Condes,
nowadays the actual localization of Recreios Coliseum and Politeama Theatre. The
TEATRO S. JOÃO in Oporto city still remains in the same position as in 1798, the
year of his construction and ACADEMIA DA TRINDADE in Lisbon placed on an
ancient convent (nowadays in front of Trindade Theatre) was the first space in
Portugal were Opera happened in1735.
However the first Portuguese Opera House was OPERA DO TEJO, also called as
TEATRO DA RIBEIRA, opened in 1755 and destroyed some months after his
construction by the earthquake in the same year. TEATRO S. CARLOS took the
place of OPERA DO TEJO in 1793 and until that year the performance of Opera
was in several other spaces of art, like: TEATROS DO BAIRRO ALTO, ÓPERA
DO CONDE DE SOURCE (1760-1771), TEATRO DO SALITRE and TEATRO
CONDES. [15]
Image 8
Ruins of OPERA DO TEJO after the earthquake in 1755. Image from CRUZ, D.I., “Teatros de Portugal”, Edições
INAPA, Lisboa.

In the next image is shown the localization of the 32 Portuguese Theatres and
Concert Halls that were studied in this work.
Image 9
Portugal Map and the localization of the studied Halls in this work.

4. XVIIIth Century Theatres
4.1. S. Carlos National Theatre
The S. Carlos National Theatre, in Lisbon, is among the small number of European
lyric theatres with an almost uninterrupted activity through more than two hundred
years, not having suffered any accident since it was inaugurated on July 30, 1793,
even though it suffered some improvements and restorations in the interior of the
room as well in the foyers, without any kind of alteration in the exterior.
Now days the theatre has the capacity to 404 people in the audience and 456 in
the five rows of boxes. The history of opera in Portugal in the last two centuries
and the S. Carlos history grow together, mainly after the fire that destructed the
Oporto’s S. João National Theatre in 1908.
The project author was the architect José da Costa e Silva, that had been studying
in Italy and that inspired himself in the S. Carlo, in Napoli, and in the Scala, in
Milan, to the façade. The first floor space, today known as Salão Nobre, was
inaugurated in 1796.
In the XIX century last decades the Italian repertoire domination started to be
partially dethroned by the Massenet, Gounod, Delibes and Wagner operas.
Between 1938 and 1940 the theatre was submitted to some major improvements.
After the war and until the 60’s some of the S. Carlos stage received some of the
biggest singers, including Maria Caniglia, Ebe Stignani, Beniamino Gigli, Mario del
Monaco,
Recently it has developed some co-productions with other European lyric theatres
In 1992 new lights and electronic subtitles equipment were installed. In 1993 and
middle of 1998, the Theatre was, together with the Portuguese Symphonic
Orchestra, under the charge of the S. Carlos Foundation, that joins the Culture
State Secretary, RTP, RDP, Portugal Telecom and the Banco Comercial
Português. Since May, 14, 1998, with the extinction of the Foundation, the Theatre
became a public institute, under the supervision of the Culture Ministry.

Image 10
S. Carlos National Theatre stage view.
Image 11
S. Carlos National Theatre hall.

Image 12
S. Carlos National Theatre architectural plant, audience area and stage.
Image 13
S. Carlos National Theatre architectural cut.

125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,43 1,19 1,15 1,04 1,00 0,97 0,88
EDT (s) 1,27 1,23 1,26 1,17 1,17 1,19 1,11
C80 (dB) 0,8 1,8 0,9 1,4 2,1 3,5 4,9
D50 (%) 35 47 40 43 47 57 65
Tc (ms) 104 87 92 85 80 65 53
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 3,1 2,3 3,7 3,1 5,3 4,3 4,5
D50 (%) 66 63 70 66 76 72 72
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,10 1,20 1,19 0,90
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,58
3729 600
SA S0 Spit ST
230 180 85 495
V/N SA/N V/ST EDT/(Vx106)

6,22 0,4 7,5 3,22 -10
Reverberation Time
1,50
1,30
Time (Sec.)
1,10
0,90
0,70
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,43 1,19 1,15 1,04 1,00 0,97 0,88
Frequency (Hz)

4.2. São João National Theatre
TNSJ – S. João National Theatre is one of the XVIII th century Portugal theatres,
opened in 1798 located down town of Oporto city. It was first called as Real Teatro
de S. João projected by the italian Architec Vicente Mazzoneschi (cenographe of
S. Carlos National Theatre in Lisbon at that time).
Is interior is very similar to S. Carlos Theatre and had a near composition to all kind
of italian theatres that were established with sucess until the born of french theatre.
After the fire of 1908, the theatre was projected by the Oporto Architec José
Marques da Silva (1869-1947), extremely influenced by his visit to Paris, years
before.
The new S. João Theatre was inaugurated in 7th March of 1920. In the beggining
the theatre presented most performances related with theatre and opera, but after
1930 the hall had o progress and started a period of decadence, where the
programming was based almost in cinema.
However, the S. João Theatre delivered his manegement to portuguese state in
8th October in 1992 and changed its designation to National Theatre. Until 1995
the theatre was under reconstruction by the architec João Carreira. The process
was about to recovering all inside, maintaining the original structure and design
and giving the theatre the essential profissional equipment for the performances.
After 1992, TeCA – Carlos Alberto Theatre delivered his manegement to S. João
National Theatre, and both halls passed to be ruled only by a entity.
As main objective, S. João National Theatre tries to experiment contemporanean

scenic languages exercise that are able to give to the audience classical or
contemporanean dramaturge patrimonium texts.

Image 14
S. João National Theatre hall
Image 15
S. João National Theatre boxes

Image 16
S. João National Theatre architectural Cut.
Image 17
S. João National Theatre architectural plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,80 1,45 1,25 1,22 1,22 1,12 0,93
EDT (s) 1,57 1,30 1,18 1,21 1,15 0,99 0,81
C80 (dB) 1,4 2,3 2,9 2,4 3,8 3,6 5,0
D50 (%) 36 47 49 43 55 54 59
Tc (ms) 113 88 77 84 68 70 59
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 2,6 8,4 7,6 7,2 5,8 6,5 8,6
D50 (%) 63 87 83 84 79 81 85
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,24 1,19 1,31 0,95
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,58
2603 600
SA S0 Spit ST
120 180 36 337

4,3 0,2 7,7 4,59 -10
Reverberation Time
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,80 1,45 1,25 1,22 1,22 1,12 0,93
Frequency (Hz)

5. XIXth Century Theatres
5.1. D. Maria II National Theatre
The D. Maria II National Theatre opened at 13th April of 1846 during the Queen D.
Maria II aniversary commemorations, which was presented the history drama of “O
Magriço e os doze de Inglaterra” an original piece of Jacinto Aguiar de Loureiro.
The romantic ambience that was established, those days, all around europe,
determined the urgency to find a model and a dramaturge national reportory, in
order to define the national identity of Portugal. In other words, the forthcoming of a
National Theatre (and his related reportory) was not only a cultural matter, but
politic as well, related with the independence of portuguese nation.
The theatre was placed in the old leavings of Estaús Palace and had as Architec
the italian Fortunato Lodi to project and execute it.
During a large period of time, D. Maria II National Theatre was ruled by artists
societies. The longest manegement was by Amélia Rey Colaço/ Robles Monteiro
from 1929 to 1964.
In that year the theatre was victim of a great fire that destroyed the main structure
except the exterior walls. The building that we know today was totally
reconstructed, according to neocalssic original style and opened his doors in 1978.
In March of 2004, the D. Maria II National Theatre passed to an Anonimous
Society of the portuguese state supervisioned by the Ministério da Cultura and
Ministério das Finanças.

Image 18
D. Maria II National Theatre hall.
Image 19
D. Maria II National Theatre boxes

Image 20
D. Maria II Theatre architectural plant.
Image 21
D. Maria II Theatre architectural Cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,15 1,13 1,18 1,10 0,95 0,82 0,68
EDT (s) 1,25 1,11 1,13 1,06 0,95 0,81 0,67
C80 (dB) 1,0 3,9 3,1 3,6 4,8 7,7 9,6
D50 (%) 40 55 51 51 60 74 79
Tc (ms) 99 68 74 69 57 36 29
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 3,2 8,0 6,0 7,0 8,5 7,0 8,2
D50 (%) 65 87 80 83 87 81 84
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,13 1,09 1 0,78
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,63
2549 600
SA S0 Spit ST
180 180 30 390

4,25 0,30 6,53 4,28 -10
Reverberation Time
1,50
Time (Sec.)
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,15 1,13 1,18 1,10 0,95 0,82 0,68
Frequency (Hz)

5.2. Garcia Resende Theatre
Garcia Resende Theatre was opened on 1st of June of 1892 by the sponser Dr.
Francisco Eduardo Fragoso and the Director Eng. Adriano de A. S. Monteiro, at
that time.
The theatre´s architecture and decoration is italian Barroc. It present some

anwsers to the scene traditions problems that were not resolved in the beggining of
the XXth century. The hall axis, in horse-shoe shape, is perpendicular to the stage.
Like the Recreios Coliseum and S. Carlos National Theatre (both in Lisbon) the
most important seat is in front of the stage, below the arabean inspiration horse-
shoe arc. From there, the hall is organized in hierarchic scale: the stalls, boxes and
gallery (wich are not in use nowadays).
The capacity of this theatre is for 473 people. The floor inclination in the stalls area
allows the principal actor to be seen in his totallity (all of his body), an innovation
solution for a problem in that time. The mouth boxes were for special people use:
in the opera performances, the singers usually come to the apron stage to
interpretate principal arias.
What concerns to decoration, the stage curtain was painted “in four hands” by João
Vaz (monuments and architecture) and António Ramalho (conception, drapery and
figures). The ceilling, where the comedy and the tradegy are represented,
surrounded by muses and genious, among clows, while in the center the name
“Garcia Resende” remains in a Manueline armilar sphere, was painted by A.
Ramalho.
The stage of Garcia Resende Theatre is one of the most biggest stages of old
theatres in Portugal, predicted from the beggining to welcoming several national
and forieg programmings.

Image 22
Garcia Resende Theatre Hall
Image 23
Garcia Resende Theatre boxes and stage view.

Image 24
Garcia Resende Theatre architectural plant.
Image 25
Garcia Resende Theatre architectural cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,27 1,34 1,25 0,95 0,80 0,70 0,57
EDT (s) 0,99 1,03 0,94 0,71 0,70 0,56 0,47
C80 (dB) 4,2 4,4 4,3 5,7 6,5 8,0 10,4
D50 (%) 51 59 57 59 67 70 79
Tc (ms) 77 68 66 58 50 43 33
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 4,1 7,7 8,4 9,5 10,5 11,9 13,1
D50 (%) 72 85 85 88 91 93 94
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,10 0,83 1,19 0,68
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,67
1577 500
SA S0 Spit ST
98 143 - 241

3,15 0,20 6,55 5,23 -10
Reverberation Time
1,50
1,30
Time (Sec.)
1,10
0,90
0,70
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,27 1,34 1,25 0,95 0,80 0,70 0,57
Frequency (Hz)

5.3. Sá de Miranda Municipal Theatre
Sá de Miranda Municipal Theatre opened in 29th of April of 1885. The theatre

construction started by the hand of several important persons of Viana do Castelo
city in 1979 – Companhia Vianense.
Projected by the Architec José Geraldo da Silva Sardinha, the Sá de Miranda

Municipal Theatre is an italian theatre with horse-foot shape, with na área of stalls
and three levels of boxes. This hall has a capacity for 400 people.
The stage curtain was design by Luigi Manini and painted by Hercole Labertini, S.
Carlos national Theatre scenographers. The ceilling, with the image´s sky in “tromp
lóil” with dramaturge portrait, was painted by João Baptista do Rio.
This theatre, a great ex-libris of Vianense and Alto-Douro cultur, has received the
most important music, theatre, opera and dance performances.

Image 26
Sá de Miranda Theatre stage view.
Image 27
Sá de Miranda Theatre boxes.

Image 28
Sá de Miranda Theatre architectural plant.
Image 29
Sá de Miranda Theatre architectural cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,15 1,91 1,55 1,26 1,15 1,01 0,85
EDT (s) 1,94 1,69 1,41 1,29 1,20 1,07 0,91
C80 (dB) 0,3 0,7 1,9 3,5 3,4 5,3 7,7
D50 (%) 42 42 49 58 55 66 77
Tc (ms) 133 113 90 70 71 51 33
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 0,7 6,5 5,7 8,2 9,7 10,8 12,2
D50 (%) 53 81 78 85 90 91 92
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,41 1,35 1,44 0,77
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,58
1815 400
SA S0 Spit ST
107,2 137,9 - 245,0

4,54 0,27 7,41 7,42 -10
Reverberation Time
2,50
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 2,15 1,91 1,55 1,26 1,15 1,01 0,85
Frequency (Hz)

5.4. São Luiz Municipal Theatre
S. Luiz Municipal Theatre opened in 22th May of 1894 and was first called Teatro
D. Amélia, a tribute to the Portugal Queen in the end of the XIXth Century. At that
time, the theatre received the most important art figure (persons) and theatre
companies of europe.
After 1910, with the monarchy fall, the republic started in the theatre, a new art
policy until 1930, where several important artists acted there, like: Eduardo Brazão,
Rosa Damasceno, Ângelo Pinto, Adelina Abranches, Palmira Bastos and Amélia
Rey Colaço. In those days the theatre discovered the modernism by the hand of
the painter Almada Negreiros and the writer Fernando Pessoa.
In 1918, in tributte to a man that changed the theatre into a great cultural centre in
Lisbon, the named changed to S. Luiz Theatre, where during the next years was
the attraction of many great movies of XXth century.
After 1971, the Lisbon town council bought the theatre and started a serie of new
performances by a resident company leadered by Eunice Muñoz and Luís
Francisco Rebelo. Some years later, in 1980, one of the greatest portuguese
FADO artist – Amália Rodrigues – returned to this hall to tributte the city of Lisbon.
However, the S. Luiz Municipal Theatre had to close his doors and after some
reconstructions, maintaining the original design, opened in 2002. The main
objective of this hall is to present a multidisciplinary and diversify performing arts:
dance, theatre and music, among others.
Today, the theatre is a cultural centre dedicated to arts with 3 stage. Main hall,
winter garden and Teatro-Estudio Mário Viegas.
In April of 2003, the manegement of S. Luiz Municipal Theatre passed to EGEAC
E.M..

Image 30
S. Luiz Theatre stage view during the measurements.
Image 31
S. Luiz Theatre stage balcony view and boxes respectiely.

Image 32
S. Luiz Theatre architectural plant.
Image 33
S. Luiz Theatre architectural cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,10 1,82 1,52 1,37 1,24 1,08 0,86
EDT (s) 1,95 1,48 1,29 1,13 1,06 0,93 0,71
C80 (dB) -1,2 2,2 2,4 2,8 3,5 4,4 6,0
D50 (%) 26 42 44 48 52 56 62
Tc (ms) 143 101 89 83 73 65 54
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 1,4 9,1 8,9 9,9 8,9 8,2 10,1
D50 (%) 58 89 88 90 88 84 88
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,44 1,19 1,37 0,80
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,58
3630 730
SA S0 Spit ST
140 160 30 330

4,9 0,2 10,9 3,27-10
Reverberation Time
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,80 1,45 1,25 1,22 1,22 1,12 0,93
Frequency (Hz)

5.5. Trindade Theatre
Placed in one of the most ancient zones of Lisbon – between Chiado and Bairro
Alto – the Trindade Theatre was built in the XIXth Century, where the social and
cultural centre was placed exactly in that zone, as well as S. Carlos National
Theatre and S. Luiz Municipal Theatre.
This theatre was the first in Portugal to have a balcony and an arena (stalls zone)
that can elevate to the stage level, in order to organize state-balls. In the end of the
XIXth century the Trindade Theatre was the most rich Lisbon hall.
It was Francisco Palha that ordered the theatre construction and the design by
Architec Miguel Evaristo de Lima Pinto. The hall opened in 1867 with the “A Mãe
dos Pobres” an Ernesto Biester piece and “O Xerez da Viscondesa” comedy.
From the beggining of his inauguration, Trindade Theatre is related to several
Lisbon history cultural moments.
After 1930 the theatre, as well as many concert halls in the country, passed to
perform cinema sessions. From the 40´s to 60´s the theatre received several
national and foreign performing arts companies. In 1962 the Trindade Municipal
Theatre is adquired by FNAT and it was completely remodelated and renovated. At
that time, it was created the “Companhia Portuguesa de Ópera” directed by Dr.
Serras Formigal.
Nowadays, the building of Trindade Theatre is divided in different points of
performances exibition and other events: Main hall, Sala Estúdio, Teatro Bar and
Noble Hall.
Today it has a capacity for 600 people and according to the theatre direction is one
of the most conserved italian theatres in the country, with virgin concrete and iron
structure elements and an unique scene machinery, this theatre belongs to the
portuguese arqueology patrimonium theatres.

Image 34
Trindade Theatre hall.
Foto by Clementina Cabral.
Image 35
st
Trindade Theatre above the 1 Balcony and stage view.
Foto by Clementina Cabral.

Image 36
Trindade Theatre lotation plant.
Image 37
Trindade Theatre architectural plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,06 0,92 0,82 0,76 0,75 0,71 0,62
EDT (s) 0,95 0,82 0,70 0,72 0,64 0,61 0,54
C80 (dB) 5,0 6,0 6,8 6,5 8,5 8,7 9,3
D50 (%) 58 61 63 66 74 72 70
Tc (ms) 66 57 49 49 37 39 39
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 2,1 9,8 5,4 9,9 11,4 9,1 9,1
D50 (%) 61 90 78 90 93 88 87
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
0,79 0,70 1,26 0,92
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,69
2212 600
SA S0 Spit ST
146,8 96 44,8 287,6

3,69 0,24 7,69 3,18 -10
Reverberation Time
1,10
Time (Sec.)
0,90
0,70
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,06 0,92 0,82 0,76 0,75 0,71 0,62

Frequency (Hz)

5.6. Viriato Theatre
The Viriato Theatre opened in the end of the XIXth century in 13th june of 1883
with the name of Theatro Boa União.
The performing piece at the openning cerimony was “O Paralytico” by the Oporto
company “Companhia de Teatro”. After 1889, the theatre passed the name to
Viriato Theatre.
Some years later, the theatre served to received performing art pieces, but mainly
cinema, to satisfy the Viseu audience.
After 1960, the theatre closed his doors, due to the sucess of another theatre in
Viseu´s down town – Avenida Teatro. With a bigger capacity than Viriato theatre,
Avenida Teatro soon became the most attractive cultural centre in Viseu.
Twenty five years later, Viriato Theatre opened for a single peformance of Ricardo
Pais “Teatro de Enormidades apenas Críveis à Luz Eléctrica”, with the support of
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Viseu Council and Governo Civil de Viseu. It was
a glorious night, reminding the theatre past life.
After this moment, between 1989 and 1997, the Viseu Council adquire the hall and
made deepest reconstructions in order to prepare the theatre to modern performing
arts.
In 1996 Viriato Theatre re-opened again to Viseu audience with the direction of
Paulo Ribeiro, after one century of his initial overture.
The hall offer to Viseu city a regular acess to performing arts, positioning the city in
the national and international artistics performances rout.

Image 38
Viriato Theatre hall and boxes. Foto byJosé Alfredo
Image 39
Viriato Theatre stage view.

Image 40
Viriato Theatre architectural cut.
Image 41
Viriato Theatre architectural plant.

1. Orchestra Configuration: Acoustic Shell on Stage
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,61 1,30 1,00 0,87 0,82 0,80 0,74
EDT (s) 0,80 0,67 0,79 0,80 0,79 0,84 0,70
C80 (dB) 6,2 7,1 5,0 5,0 5,5 5,0 6,6
D50 (%) 54 66 60 58 61 60 68
Tc (ms) 73 53 61 62 56 59 50
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 5,5 7,1 5,8 7,8 7,7 5,9 7,5
D50 (%) 78 83 79 86 85 79 85
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
0,93 0,76 1,55 0,86
2. Theatre Configuration:
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,89 1,59 1,29 1,03 0,86 0,78 0,67
EDT (s) 1,25 1,02 0,85 0,77 0,73 0,73 0,69
C80 (dB) 3,2 4,7 4,8 5,4 6,1 6,9 8,2
D50 (%) 54 65 61 60 68 73 78
Tc (ms) 97 64 66 59 50 42 33
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) -2,0 5,4 3,9 5,0 6,1 7,4 10,2
D50 (%) 39 77 70 75 80 84 91
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,15 0,79 1,51 0,71
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,65
1364 252
SA S0 Spit ST
107,1 83,5 15 205,6

5,41 0,4 6,64 5,81 -10

Reverberation Time
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Orchestra 1,61 1,30 1,00 0,87 0,82 0,80 0,74
Theater/Pop/Rock 1,89 1,59 1,29 1,03 0,86 0,78 0,67
Frequency (Hz)

6. XXth Century Theatres
6.1. Aveirense Theatre
The Aveirense Theatre opened in 1881 with the “Companhia de Teatro Nacional D.
Maria II” after the constitution of “Sociedade Construtora e Administrativa do
Teatro Aveirense”, in 1879, in Aveiro city.
The theatre activity stoped in 1947 and after several and deepest contract jobs of
remodelation and reconstruction the Aveirense Theatre re-started his activity in
1949.
In July of 1974, was born the “Sociedade Teatro Aveirense” and the interest of an
aquisition by city council. However, the town hall aquisition just was possible on
November of 1998. In June of 2000 the theatre close its doors and started another
re-construction revolution in order to modernize its equipement and spaces. After 3
years, on 23th of October, the theatre re-opened with the supervision of Aveiro
town hall (the actual owners and “Rede Nacional de Teatro e Cine-Teatro”) and
began a new age of cultural policy matter in the Aveiro city. At this time, the theatre
is mainly a municipal space with excellent technical conditions and a profissional
group of people in the art performances.
The main issue of this hall is to become a knowlege, wisdom and artistic cultural
space and as an objective that the theatre allows the discovery of utopies and new
imaginary and impulse the meeting of different comunities.
As a public service space, this theatre should present a diversity and regular
programation to the Aveiro audience.

Image 42
Aveirense Theatre stage view during the measurements.
Image 43
Aveirense Theatre lateral balcony view.

Image 44
Aveirense Theatre architectural cut.
Image 45
Aveirense Theatre architectural plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,41 2,23 1,90 1,42 1,13 1,00 0,86
EDT (s) 1,89 1,56 1,21 0,91 0,85 0,76 0,63
C80 (dB) 1,8 3,3 3,7 4,9 5,8 6,8 8,5
D50 (%) 49 55 56 60 66 69 77
Tc (ms) 115 89 77 63 53 46 38
G (dB) - - - - - - -
Balcony C80 (dB) 2,8 3,3 2,9 3,8 3,4 4,9 6,1
D50 (%) 48 51 52 58 53 60 65
On Stage C50 (dB) -2,0 4,7 4,6 6,2 7,5 8,5 9,6
D50 (%) 38 73 74 79 84 87 89
STI
Audience Balcony
0,63 0,60
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,66 1,06 1,40 0,64
V N
Volume Seats
3422 663
SA S0 Spit ST
136 98,7 25 259,8

5,16 0,2 13,17 3,10 -10
Reverberation Time
2,50
2,00
Time (sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 2,41 2,23 1,90 1,42 1,13 1,00 0,86
Frequency (Hz)

6.2. Bragança Municipal Theatre
Legend has it that the city of Bragança was founded by King Brigos, in 1906 b.C.,
giving it the primitive name of Brigância. Later on, it was dominated and rebuilt by
the Romans, under the command of the emperor Augusto César, which changed
its name to Juliobriga.
Bragança, a city of Trás-os-Montes, is located at 255km from Oporto and at 515

km from Lisbon. It is stuck between the northeastern mountains, at 700 metres of
altitude, and the Spanish border, at 22 km.
Its location at the northeastern part of the country, forces Bragança to have a
double geographic position, nationally and regionally. This position has been
attenuated by the fact of being the region “capital”, what lead to a polarization
about its external involvence as political, administrative and population centre.
Bragança is the centre of some regional entities and associations and delegations
and regional directions of the Central Administration.
Even tough, only with good accessibility and with the improvement of urban and
environmental conditions, that promote its competitiveness, the localization of
Bragança can stop being a constraint factor, to become a factor of potential
development.

Image 46
Bragança Municipal Theatre stage view.
Image 47
Bragança Municipal Theatre hall.

Image 48
Bragança Municipal Theatre architectural plant.
Image 49
Bragança Municipal Theatre architectural cut.

1. Small Orchestra Configuration: Saffety Curtain down
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,34 1,43 1,56 1,56 1,52 1,35 1,03
EDT (s) 1,05 1,26 1,52 1,52 1,40 1,23 0,92
C80 (dB) 2,3 2,7 1,9 2,6 1,7 2,3 5,1
D50 (%) 40 45 46 50 43 47 62
Tc (ms) 95 86 93 85 93 83 55
G (dB) - - - - - - -
2. Theatre Configuration - Unnocupied

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,29 1,25 1,37 1,35 1,34 1,19 0,94
EDT (s) 0,99 1,10 1,29 1,30 1,23 1,12 0,88
C80 (dB) 3,4 3,7 2,9 3,4 2,4 3,0 5,6
D50 (%) 45 50 51 54 47 51 65
Tc (ms) 86 75 77 72 82 73 50
G (dB) - - - - - - -
STI Seconds
0,57 RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,37 1,29 0,94 0,93
3. Saffety Curtain down – Hall Full Occupied

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,22 1,20 1,13 1,10 1,03 0,91 0,72
EDT (s) 0,85 0,99 0,84 0,79 0,83 0,76 0,59
C80 (dB) 3,5 3,2 4,7 4,8 5,1 5,1 7,1
D50 (%) 55 50 56 56 60 54 59
Tc (ms) 79 77 68 70 59 62 53
G (dB) - - - - - - -
STI Seconds
1,11 0,82 1,10 0,87

V N
Volume Seats
3274 400
SA S0 Spit ST
282 180 72 534

8,19 0,7 6,13 2,49 -10
Reverberation Time
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Small Orchester 1,34 1,43 1,56 1,56 1,52 1,35 1,03
Theater 1,29 1,25 1,37 1,35 1,34 1,19 0,94
Hall Occupied 1,22 1,20 1,13 1,10 1,03 0,91 0,72
Frequency (Hz)

6.3. Camões Theatre
Camões Theatre appeared when the ideia of the realization of EXPO 98 came up
in the new and reconstructed north area of Lisbon.
This theatre was, after his opening, offer to “Companhia Nacional de Bailado”
(CNB). The “Companhia Nacional de Bailado” have presented since that year her
regular programation in Camões Theatre, allowing the audience the opportunity to
see in this hall classical productions as Gisele, A Dama das Camélias, the Nut-
Cracker, among others.
The CNB presents also contemporanean program along the open seasons. Once
the CNB develops a large and regular activity descentralization – by national tours,
the theatre is also available for others dance companies.
The issue of Camões Theatre is to become in fact a dance space in Lisbon,

consolidating the audience with the diversify programming. It is, also an objective,
try to observe the young audience and assure a regular pedagogic programming.
In 2005 the theatre eceived Companhia Olga Roriz, Companhia Portuguesa de
Bailado Contemporâneo, Companhia de Dança Contemporânea (CDC),
Companhia Benvindo Fonseca, Companhia Rui Lopes Graça, Companhia
EgriBianco Danza (Italia), among others.
The welcoming of portuguese dance companies it is considered very important and

prescious to the portuguese culture.
The Companhia Nacional de Bailado/ Camões Theatre is a project in development

with constant growing up, dinamic and quality.

Image 50
Camões Theatre Sound Technician view.
Image 51
Camões Theatre stage view.

Image 52
Camões Theatre architectural plant.
Image 53
Camões Theatre architectural cut.

1. Theatre Configuration
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,15 1,81 1,44 1,30 1,21 1,09 0,93
EDT (s) 1,09 1,19 1,19 1,03 0,99 0,84 0,73
C80 (dB) 3,5 2,7 1,7 0,5 3,6 3,2 3,3
D50 (%) 52 52 48 40 57 51 49
Tc (ms) 85 81 82 85 63 67 65
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 0,8 1,9 5,0 8,1 7,8 6,2 4,6
D50 (%) 54 60 75 86 86 79 71
STI Seconds
1,37 1,10 1,40 0,83
2. Conference Configuration: Saffety Curtain down.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
TR30 (s) 1,14 1,29 1,37 1,30 1,21 1,07 0,90
EDT (s) 1,13 1,29 1,27 1,10 1,05 0,95 0,77
C80 (dB) 3,6 2,8 3,4 4,2 4,2 4,7 6,8
D50 (%) 50 51 51 59 59 60 71
STI Seconds
1,33 1,19 0,91 0,85
V N
Volume Seats
6295 890
SA S0 Spit ST
482 180 56 718

7,07 0,5 8,77 1,75 -10

Reverberation Time
2,50
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Theater 2,15 1,81 1,44 1,30 1,21 1,09 0,93
Conferences 1,14 1,29 1,37 1,30 1,21 1,07 0,90
Frequency (Hz)

6.4. Carlos Alberto Theatre
Since the inauguration in 14th of October, 1897, the Carlos Alberto Theatre (TeCA)
was a witness of the Oporto years history culture, specially those of the XXth
century.
By the hand of Manuel da Silva Neves, the theatre started, in the beggining of the
last century, small theatre pieces, like the presentation of the “The Magic Devil”,
one example of the popular genere: the magical. It was this kind of performances
and others like Revistas and operetas, that until the beggining of the decade of
1920, were part of the hall programming.
After 1923 it was the art of Circus that gave the principal attraction to the Oporto
audience. But it was just after the year of 1979, in order to have a hall for multi-
pruposes, the governement allowed negociations with the owners of Carlos Alberto
Theatre given to the hall several quality performances, of different artistic
expressions areas: cinema, theatre, music, ballet and opera.
In the decade of 1990, a big fire destroyed a great part of Carlos Alberto Theatre,
but with a total reconstruction in the beggining of this century, the theatre opened
its doors and it still one of the most important cultural atraction in Oporto city.
Nowadays, the management of Carlos Alberto belongs to the S. João National
Theatre (TNSJ).

Image 54
Carlos Alberto Theatre audience area.
Image 55
Carlos Alberto Theatre left stage view.

Image 56
Carlos Alberto Theatre architectural plant
Image 57
Carlos Alberto Theatre architectural cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,67 1,50 1,20 1,15 1,12 1,04 0,92
EDT (s) 1,27 1,34 1,14 1,17 1,05 0,95 0,78
C80 (dB) 2,3 2,2 2,7 1,8 3,7 3,8 5,2
D50 (%) 48 47 48 41 55 53 59
Tc (ms) 95 94 79 89 68 71 61
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 2,1 6,6 6,1 7,6 9,1 8,5 8,6
D50 (%) 59 82 79 85 89 86 85
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,18 1,15 1,34 0,92
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,59
2491 342
SA S0 Spit ST
183 116 35 334

7,28 0,53 7,46 4,63 -10
Reverberation Time
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,67 1,50 1,20 1,15 1,12 1,04 0,92
Frequency (Hz)

6.5. Faro Municipal Theatre
Opened in 2005, the Faro Municipal Theatre (nowadays called as Teatro das
Figuras) is placed in Horta das Figuras, an area in constant progress and
development near the Faro historic center.
The theatre is characterized, essential, by his big stage with top digital and
analogue áudio/vídeo equipment, including an Acoustic Shell totally automatic and
controlled by special stage technicians.
Besides the dimension of the stage, there is also, space to orqchestra rehearsals
and scenery locals, allowing a great stage setting versatility.
The proscenium arcs has a maximum high of 4,4 meters, where it can be usefull to
the Orchestra pit, which can receive 77 musicians. The audience access to the
theatre is done by a slope which can serve also to outside productions, placed in
Praça da República.
This theatre had as Architec Gonçalo Byrne and as acoustic consultant Higini
Arau.

Image 58
Faro Municipal Theatre hall.
Image 59
Faro Municipal Theatre stage view.

Image 60
Faro Municipal Theatre architectural cut.
Image 61
Faro Municipal Theatre architectural plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,89 1,87 1,87 1,84 1,75 1,49 1,15
EDT (s) 1,62 1,43 1,47 1,49 1,26 1,07 0,81
C80 (dB) -0,1 1,3 0,9 1,7 2,5 3,7 5,5
D50 (%) 31 40 35 41 41 48 61
Tc (ms) 129 111 113 103 94 77 57
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 3,5 0,2 2,9 3,0 3,4 4,3 6,4
D50 (%) 67 51 66 66 68 73 81
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,85 1,48 1,02 0,88
2. Theatre and Pop/Rock Configuration:

3.
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,20 1,95 1,85 1,69 1,59 1,36 1,07
EDT (s) 1,76 1,32 1,43 1,36 1,18 1,04 0,85
C80 (dB) 2,0 2,3 1,7 2,9 4,5 4,2 5,4
D50 (%) 48 47 48 55 61 59 63
Tc (ms) 117 97 96 85 69 71 61
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 3,2 2,5 6,7 8,5 7,8 8,0 10,4
D50 (%) 67 64 82 87 85 84 89
STI Seconds
1,77 1,39 1,17 0,83

V N
Volume Seats
5985 794
SA S0 Spit ST
398 180 87 665

7,54 0,5 9,00 2,47 -10
Reverberation Time
2,50
Time (Sec.)
2,00
1,50
1,00
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Theater 2,20 1,95 1,85 1,69 1,59 1,36 1,07
Orchestra 1,89 1,87 1,87 1,84 1,75 1,49 1,15
Frequency (Hz)

6.6. Gil Vicente Academic Theatre
Gil Vicente Academic Theatre belongs to Coimbra University and it has 42 years
hold. Mainly, serves a strong support to artist and cultural creations of Associação
Académica de Coimbra.
It was opened in 9th Setember of 1965 and besides theatre, dance and opera, the
Gil Vicente Academic Theatre presented also a national and foreign quality musical
landscape, focus in classic music.
After 1965, the hall starts the a programation of cinema, like many others theatres
and concert halls of the country. However it is after the 80´s that Gil Vicente
Academic Theatre intensify its program in several artistic theatre areas, but is after
the second half of this decade that become a usual theatral representation.
As an example, the FITEI – Festival Internacional de Teatro e Expressão Ibérica;
samples of Holland Theatre with ACARTE and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
colaboration; the first Congresso Luso-Espanhol de teatro and the Projecto de
Itenerância da Secretaria de Estado da Cultura.
In 1992 the Gil Vicente Academic Theatre becomes the oficial headquarter of
Coimbra Culture Capital City. Besides the strong theatre presence, the hall goes
on with another areas of interest as tematic organizations cicles, like cinema.
The Gil Vicente Academic Theatre one of the most important cultural and artistic
center in Coimbra city, promoted and divulgated the Project Coimbra 2003, where
had programated and received several national and international events, wich had
many different artistic areas, given special attention to the stage performances.

Image 62
Gil Vicente Academic Theatre hall.
Image 63
Gil Vicente Academic Theatre balcony view.

Image 64
Gil Vicente Academic Theatre architectural plant.
Image 65
Gil Vicente Academic Theatre architectural cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,58 1,38 1,09 1,06 0,96 0,83 0,68
EDT (s) 1,67 1,34 1,06 0,98 1,03 0,93 0,81
C80 (dB) 0,1 2,1 4,9 4,3 5,7 4,8 6,4
D50 (%) 36 49 60 50 63 54 61
Tc (ms) 121 83 57 65 48 59 47
G (dB) - - - - - - -
Balcony C80 (dB) 1,2 4,0 5,4 5,2 7,7 7,9 9,0
D50 (%) 32 49 61 59 71 67 70
On Stage C50 (dB) 1,7 6,8 6,3 7,8 9,0 8,3 10,6
D50 (%) 60 82 81 84 89 85 89
STI
Audience Balcony
0,60 0,65
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,08 1,01 1,38 0,84
V N
Volume Seats
3180 638
SA S0 Spit ST
200 141 45 386

4,11 0,3 8,24 3,17 -10
Reverberation Time
2,00
1,50
Time (sec.)
1,00
0,50
0,00
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,58 1,38 1,09 1,06 0,96 0,83 0,68
Frequency (Hz)

6.7. Guarda Municipal Theatre
In the last tem years the cultural life of the city has as main stage the City Hall
Auditorium, a room with a small scenic space and other insufficiencies. Technical
miracles were performed to make possible the presentation of shows, but, it
became impossible to maintain a situation slightly limited to any more demanding
program. Guarda needed a big show room, with all the conditions to receive the
more diverse and complex proposals. But, Guarda deserved this equipment, since
it was the interior city that, in a systematic way, invested in a cultural programming,
seen as a development factor. The TMG has two auditoriums (a bigger one with
626 seats and a smaller one with 164 seats), a Concert- Café, an Art Gallery and a
Rehearsal Room. In a small city as Guarda, this kind of equipment means a lot in
what concerns to cultural fruition and new perspectives opening, with the countless
proposals regarding plays, movies, music, dance and entertainment.
There is no cultural process that doesn’t take risks and the TMG artistical direction
chose to go for new things and permanent challenges. The TMG has a systematic
attitude in the creation of new audiences, using the Educational Service. It
organizes the program in circles and festivals, with unity and coherence. It tries to
maintain a critical dialog with the creators and with the actions it promotes, and
with the various cultural audiences. The TMG, didn’t just brought a big
transformation in Guarda’s cultural life, as well as became a privileged intermediate
in the cultural production of Salamanca’s area (Spain)This space has the capacity
to receive shows of a great technical complexity- becoming more appellative and
mobilizing new audiences.
The auditoriums receive several shows: in the bigger one, we can usually see
operas, ballet, music, plays among others; in the smaller one, we can also see
music and plays, and also movie sessions, organized by the TMG together with the
Guarda’s Cineclube.

Image 66
Guarda Municipal Theatre hall.
Image 67
Guarda Municipal Theatre audience area view.

Image 68
Guarda Municipal Theatre architectural plant.
Image 69
Guarda Municipal Theatre architectural cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,38 1,93 1,22 1,02 1,01 0,93 0,77
EDT (s) 1,46 1,16 0,94 0,86 0,94 0,92 0,72
C80 (dB) 2,2 3,8 5,7 4,7 4,4 4,1 5,1
D50 (%) 47 55 62 50 52 50 53
Tc (ms) 102 76 54 67 64 65 59
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 0,8 8,6 8,2 10,3 10,1 11,0 12,3
D50 (%) 54 88 84 91 91 92 93
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,11 0,92 1,94 0,86
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,61
6027 626
SA S0 Spit ST
320 120 56 496

9,63 0,51 12,16 1,52 -10
Reverberation Time
2,50
2,00
Time (sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 2,38 1,93 1,22 1,02 1,01 0,93 0,77
Frequency (Hz)

6.8. Helena Sá e Costa Theatre
Helena Sá e Costa Theatre opened in 18th May of the year 2000 and belongs to
the Oporto Polytechnic Institute (IPP) with its manegement handed over to IPP
Foundation with no lucrative founds. This Theatre is licensed by the Cultural
Activities general Inspection and is placed in the center of Escola Superior de
Música e Artes do Espectáculo do Porto (High School of Music and Perfoming Arts
of Oporto – ESMAE).
The main issue of Helena Sá e Costa Theatre is to promote and divulgate arts, as
a tool of knowledge process and development of man in dance, music and theatre,
given power to new tendencies, supporting embrionic atrs projects movements
inside and outside the institution. Other objective is organizing artistic projects
capable of getting new and faithfulness audience and give vitality to the Oporto
historic center.
The strategic sucess is due to the presentation of new creations and new
producers; the reception of external productions and the Escola Superior de
Música e Artes do Espectáculo productions in dance, music and theatre. However,
the direction of the theatre also rents the hall to external performing arts.
The architec project was Filipe Oliveira Dias, and the main question for the
construction of this hall was study a way to recover an ancient garden/open space
between the struture in the old primary school of Oporto city. The architec kept the
windows design on the main walls of the building, that can been seen in the
following pictures of the hall.
With a small capacity of 274 people and with a small volume, this theatre is one of
the most equiped hall in Portugal, due to be located in the middle of a High School
of Music and Perfoming Arts, with degrees in Music, Theatre and Prodution and
Music Technologies. Actually, this theatre doesn´t need to depende of external
instituions or resources, because it has their own musicians, actors and image and
sound technicians.

Image 70
Helena Sá e Costa Theatre hall.
Image 71
Helena Sá e Costa Theatre sound Technician view.

Image 72
Helena Sá e Costa Theatre architectural plant.
Image 73
Helena Sá e Costa Theatre architectural cut.

1. Small Orchestra: Acoustic Shell above the front Stage
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Hall TR30 (s) 1,43 1,33 1,23 1,16 1,08 0,87 0,65
EDT (s) 1,20 1,22 1,05 1,07 1,02 0,82 0,59
C80 (dB) 2,5 3,2 4,8 5,0 4,7 7,3 10,4
D50 (%) 43 56 65 66 62 74 83
Tc (ms) 92 74 57 51 55 37 23
2. Theatre and Pop/Rock Configuration

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Hall TR30 (s) 1,47 1,44 1,18 1,09 1,07 0,87 0,65
EDT (s) 1,26 1,24 1,09 1,03 0,99 0,82 0,65
C80 (dB) 1,5 1,9 3,8 4,2 3,8 6,0 9,3
D50 (%) 38 50 60 61 58 70 82
Tc (ms) 101 86 64 59 63 46 28
G (dB) - - - - - - -
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,14 1,06 1,28 0,85
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,62
272 1959
SA S0 Spit ST
106 72 21 200

7,8 0,4 9,8 5,42 -10
Reverberation Time
1,50
1,25
Time (sec.)
1,00
0,75
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Small Orchestra 1,43 1,33 1,23 1,16 1,08 0,87 0,65
Theater 1,47 1,44 1,18 1,09 1,07 0,87 0,65
Frequency (Hz)

6.9. Maria Matos Municipal Theatre
The Maria Matos Municipal Theatre opened in 22th of October of 1969, almost in
the end of conturbate years of the recent Portugal history and to tributte a great
portuguese theatre actress of the first half of the XXth century – Maria Matos.
The structure construction was made by the Architec Fernando Ramalho in the
beggining of the project and by Architec Barros da Fonseca a few years later.
In 24th of Setember of 1982 the theatre become part of Lisbon town hall. With a
past loaded of popular and conventional portuguese expressions, the Maria Matos
Theatre assumed in 1999 a will of change: to start a process in order to modernize
and offer a better confort to artists and audience, as a diversify and professional
programming, given to the theatre a space of new artistic experimentation
language, trying to impose as an alternative space among the several audience of
the city and country.
The theatre programming design is to serve the Lisbon city: from the Lisbon
knowledge and the knowledge of theatre himself, from its past and tradition, his
architectonic and technical characteristics, from his geographical localization in the
Lisbon space and of course its artistics and cultural panorama.
For the city (their artists, their audience and another culture locals and cidadany)
the present project respects the diversity of gender, stetic and intervenients.
The programming policy is done according to the international and national

proposals, in the following areas: theatre, dance, music, new circus and as well
transdisciplinarys projects. All the performing arts are attended by profissional
formation (artistic and technical).
In April of 2003 the manegement of Maria Matos Municipal Theatre was delivered
to EGEAC E.M..

Image 74
Maria Matos Theatre hall. Foto by José Frade.
Image 75
Maria Matos Theatre audience view. Foto byJosé Frade.

Image 76
Maria Matos Theatre architectural cut.
Image 77
Maria Matos Theatre architectural plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,32 1,16 1,00 1,09 1,22 1,20 1,01
EDT (s) 0,88 0,86 1,00 1,14 1,28 1,26 1,04
C80 (dB) 5,1 5,2 3,6 2,5 1,8 2,6 3,9
D50 (%) 57 62 51 48 45 51 55
Tc (ms) 74 63 71 79 89 78 64
G (dB) - - - - - - -
Balcony
C80 (dB) 5,9 6,0 6,3 6,4 6,2 6,0 6,4
D50 (%) 57 62 51 48 45 51 55
On Stage C50 (dB) 0,2 7,2 6,0 5,5 5,8 6,8 8,5
D50 (%) 52 84 80 77 79 82 87
STI
Audience Balcony
0,59 0,66
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,04 1,07 1,19 1,16
V N
Volume Seats
2412 570
SA S0 Spit ST
234 116 24 374

4,23 0,4 6,46 4,42 -10
Reverberation Time
1,50
Time (sec.)
1,00
0,50
0,00
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,32 1,16 1,00 1,09 1,22 1,20 1,01
Frequency (Hz)

6.10. Politeama Theatre
The construction of Politeama Theatre was from Luís António Pereira ideia, a man
in love with the performing arts, music and theatre in the first decade of the XXth
century. The issue was to serve the lisbon audience with portuguese culture.
The project belongs to Architec Ventura Terra and the construction to José Barros
Mesquita. The theatre decoration was by the sculptor Jorge Pereira and the
painting by Benvindo Seia and Veloso Salgado.
The hall opened in 1913 with the opereta “Valsa de Amor” with Cremilde de
Oliveira and Sofia Santos as main actress.
Several performing arts companies represented their shows in Politeama Theatre,
like: Ângela Pinto, Palmira Bastos, Maria Matos, Companhia Rey Colaço, Alves da
Cunha, Brumilde Júdice, Adelina Abranches, among others. In this theatre the
most important portuguese actors of the XXth century like António Silva, Irene
Isidro, Vasco Santana, Teresa Gomes, Raúl de Carvalho, Emília de Oliveira, Ruy
de Carvalho, Varela Silva and Curado Ribeiro, acted.
During many years, this hall served the purposes of cinema, where exhibition of
th
historic movies weas the main attraction, like “Casablanca” during the II World
War.
In 1991 Filipe La Féria rented for a long time period the theatre and did several
reconstructions inside the hall in order to improve a better professional theatre
conditions. After 1992, Filipe La Féria presented until now with sucess, “Maldita
Cocaína, Maria Cllas, Casa do Lago” and the most important “Amália”.

Image 78
Politeama Theatre stage view.
Image 79
st
Politeama Theatre boxes and 1 balcony.

Image 80
Politeama Theatre architectural plant, without the stage.
Image 81
Politeama Theatre architectural stage plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,29 1,09 0,96 0,93 0,89 0,79 0,66
EDT (s) 1,16 1,14 1,00 0,90 0,87 0,79 0,64
C80 (dB) 1,5 3,5 3,5 4,7 5,9 9,0 10,3
D50 (%) 34 52 53 54 63 80 84
Tc (ms) 98 73 65 60 48 27 23
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 1,8 8,8 6,0 7,1 9,5 10,7 11,7
D50 (%) 59 88 81 84 90 91 93
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
0,95 0,94 1,26 0,89
V N STI
Volume Seats 0,67
3600 638
SA S0 Spit ST
280 138 20 438

5,6 0,4 8,2 2,61-10
Reverberation Time
1,40
1,20
Time (sec.)
1,00
0,80
0,60
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,29 1,09 0,96 0,93 0,89 0,79 0,66
Frequency (Hz)

6.11. Rivoli Municipal Theatre
Teatro Nacional was the first name of Rivoli Municipal Theatre, placed in down
town of Oporto in 1913. A great building, for that time, that become a cultural and
social life point of interest in Oporto city.
In 1923, the theatre after some remodelations and modernizations was called
Rivoli Theatre, totally adapted to cinema, with the best equipment for Opera,
Dance, Theatre and Music concert, all performances with international reputation
until 1970.
During the 70´s decade, the theatre suffered some finantial problems and closed
his doors. With the design of the Architec Pedro Ramalho, the Rivoli Municipal
Theatre opened in 1997, supervisioned by culturporto entity. The issue of the
theatre and architec was to re-built a hall able to function for all kinds of audience
and performances, producers and answer to the most diversify artistics
expressions of multiple languages of arts.
Nowadays, this Rivoli Theatre, is now rented by Filipe La Féria, for a long time
period, like Politeama Theatre in Lisbon.

Image 82
Rivoli Theatre hall.
Image 83
Rivoli Theatre audience view.

Image 84
Rivoli Theatre architectural cut.
Image 85
Rivoli Theatre architectural plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,75 2,27 1,60 1,36 1,17 0,94 0,60
EDT (s) 1,29 1,30 1,08 1,02 1,02 0,82 0,58
C80 (dB) 2,5 3,5 5,4 6,2 5,5 6,9 10,6
D50 (%) 35 53 65 68 64 69 79
Tc (ms) 109 83 58 52 55 44 29
G (dB) - - - - - - -
Balcony C80 (dB) -0,2 1,4 2,3 2,7 3,3 4,8 7,0
D50 (%) 28 39 43 48 52 61 67
STI
Audience Balcony
0,64 0,59
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,48 1,05 1,70 0,72
V N
Volume Seats
4651 874
SA S0 Spit ST
274 180 39 493

5,32 0,3 9,44 2,26 -10
Reverberation Time
3,00
2,50
2,00
Time (sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
0,00
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 2,75 2,27 1,60 1,36 1,17 0,94 0,60
Frequency (Hz)

6.12. Vila Real Municipal Theatre
The Vila Real Municipal Theatre is located in Vila Real city in the North of Portugal,
in a region called Alto-Douro, with a very beautiful landscape to the hills and fields.
This theatre opened in the year of 2005 and due to his new and excellent
equipment conditions, the hall allows the presentation of great and quality
performers and also innovates the region in what concerns to culture.
The complex is composed by the Great Auditorium (with the capacity of 500
people), the small auditorium (with the capacity of 150 people), exterior auditorium
(for aproximately 200 people), the foyer, exposition hall, multi-purpose hall, Bar-
Gallery, Café concert/restaurant, the Teatroteca and musical gardins.
The theatre activites are related with Rede Nacional de Teatros that deal with the
principal national agency and producers. Beside the performances programming in
theatre, dance, music, cinema, circense arts and expositions, there is also
foreseen co-production performances with another regional, national and foreign
enterprises.
From expositions to cinema, theatre festivals to music, there is every day strong
reasons to use this point of interest in Alto-Douro region.

Image 86
Vila Real Municipal Theatre hall.
Image 87
Vila Real Municipal Theatre stage view.

Image 88
Vila Real Municipal Theatre architectural plant.
Image 89
Vila Real Municipal Theatre architectural cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,85 1,44 1,21 1,16 1,15 1,14 0,95
EDT (s) 1,72 1,43 1,41 1,39 1,32 1,41 1,10
C80 (dB) -0,8 2,3 2,1 1,8 3,0 3,2 5,2
D50 (%) 36 53 53 50 59 60 66
Tc (ms) 130 84 86 94 77 75 59
G (dB) - - - - - - -
Balcony C80 (dB) 3,3 5,0 5,3 6,4 6,4 5,4 6,2
D50 (%) 43 53 56 64 65 61 66
On Stage C50 (dB) -1,1 6,6 7,5 8,8 6,4 7,0 9,7
D50 (%) 43 82 84 88 80 82 87
STI
th
Audience 2 Audience
0,56 0,65
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,20 1,40 1,39 0,96
V N
Volume Seats
5324 500
SA S0 Spit ST
336 144 33 513

10,6 0,7 10,4 2,62 -10
Reverberation Time
2,00
1,50
Time (sec.)
1,00
0,50
0,00
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,85 1,44 1,21 1,16 1,15 1,14 0,95
Frequency (Hz)

7. Concert Halls
7.1. Aula Magna
After several years in construction, the Lisbon University was opened in 1961, with
a population of about 7000 students at that time. The University will become one of
the most important studies centre of Portugal. Aula Magna is placed in the midle of
University´s Rectory, and has the capacity for 1597 people. As architect this
concert/conference hall had António Pardal Monteiro and as engineers José
Marecos and João dÀrga e Lima.
According to the Amphi-theatre shape, with an isosceles trapeze form, there was
the need to do the hall structure in radial sense and not the transversal sense. So,
the main structure of the amphi-theatre consists on a serie of longitudinal metallic
beam with a radial disposition.
Two characteristics were treated with special care: form (which is related to the
sound propagation) and materials (related with the Reverberation Time and
Inteligibility of Word).
With a volume of 14000 m3 and with a fan shape, the project authors applied to the
medium and rear halls smoth and hard superfícies in order to lead the sound rays
to the poor zones of the hall.
The shape of the back hall is concave, which is not advisable by the acoustics
experts because it can cause sound focalizations. However, it was constructed
with an inclination of 6% to avoid completely the origin of any echoes.
The shape of the ceilling was studied in order to allow a convenience sound rays
orientation to the hall rear, and besides that fact the geometric shape project of the
hall lead to guide a convenient ceilling reflectors plan, regarding the phonic level
compensation in the far zones of the sound origin, according to the quadratic
square law.

Image 90
Aula Magna concert/conference hall.
Image 91
Aula Magna concert/conference hall stage view.

Image 92
Aula Magna concert/conference hall architectural plant.
Image 93
Aula Magna concert/conference hall architectural lotation plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,57 1,59 1,68 1,87 1,86 1,64 1,27
EDT (s) 1,46 1,62 1,77 1,96 1,94 1,71 1,27
C80 (dB) 1,5 0,9 0,0 -0,6 -0,1 0,2 2,1
D50 (%) 45 42 35 31 37 37 46
Tc (ms) 109 111 125 140 129 117 88
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 2,9 2,6 3,7 2,2 2,9 4,7 7,4
D50 (%) 64 65 69 61 66 74 84
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,77 1,88 0,88 0,98
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,51
1800 14018
SA S0 Spit ST
879,8 180,0 - 1060

8,78 0,55 13,23 1,34 -10
Reverberation Time
2,50
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,57 1,59 1,68 1,87 1,86 1,64 1,27
Frequency (Hz)

7.2. CCB
Its construction was decided in 1988. The idea was to have a building able to
receive, in 1992, the Portuguese Presidency of the EU (European union), remaining as
an important (dinamizador) of cultural and leisure activities.
This remarkable building was built in Belém, this choice seems obvious, it was the
place of departure of maritime discoveries and the magnificent Belém Tower and
“Padrão dos Descobrimentos”.
After the international contest, there were 57 projects. The chosen one was the
proposal of the Italian architect Vittorio Gregotti and the Portuguese architect Manuel
Salgado, which comprehended 5 modules: reunion, show and exhibition centres, a
hotel area and complementary equipment.
The big Auditorium has 1429 seats, the small Auditorium sits 310 people and the
rehearsal room sits 85. In this structure, we can find the supporting rooms to the
production and preparation of shows.
Even without two of the five modules initially foreseen, CCB has today a
construction area of 97 thousand square meters, divided in 6 ha (hectares). There are
two interior streets united by a footway which creates continuity to the Império Square.
It’s like a small city, with gardens, lakes, bridges, ramps, nooks and crannies. The
Praça do Museu is in the limelight for its nobility.
It’s a unique work , aesthetically, but this construction was a true challenge to
engineering.
The CCB three modules have a rather complex structure with an electrical supply
system, electrical nets, telecommunications, computer science, security and
conditional air.

Image 94
CCB concert hall.
Image 95
CCB concert hall stage view.

Image 96
CCB concert hall architectural plant.
Image 97
CCB concert hall architectural cut

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,97 1,82 1,83 1,87 1,77 1,50 1,05
EDT (s) 1,53 1,65 1,82 1,84 1,59 1,27 0,80
C80 (dB) -0,3 1,1 1,5 2,1 2,3 3,6 6,7
D50 (%) 27 43 44 48 45 53 66
Tc (ms) 126 110 108 101 97 77 46
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 3,30 0,93 5,77 4,87 4,30 4,93 7,30
D50 (%) 67 54 79 75 73 75 84
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,85 1,83 1,02 0,88
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,55
1200 13395
SA S0 Spit ST
538 325 77 940
V/ST SA/N V/N EDT/(Vx106)

11,2 0,4 14,2 1,37-10
Reverberation Time
2,50
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,97 1,82 1,83 1,87 1,77 1,50 1,05
Frequency (Hz)

7.3. CAE
The city of Figueira da Foz is located in the Portuguese Atlantic coast, at just about
180 km from Lisbon, 120 km from Oporto and 40 km from Coimbra.
The sun and the beach are it’s main touristy resources. 4 km of fine golden sand
and sea give all the necessary to a relaxing fun, and pleasant vacations.
Inaugurated in July 1, 2002, the Centro de Artes e Espectáulos- a Luís Marçal

Grilo project- stated as an important mark of a cultural intervention politics,
becoming an attraction and projecting a city regionally and nationally.
Under the tutee of Figueira Grande Turismo - Em, the actions that lead to the
valorisation of this cultural patrimony, shows, science reunions and others, have
been intensified.
The general character of the auditorium will be evident from plants showed after.
The audience area is rectilinear in main plan and cross-section, with the stage
embodied in the hall rather than in a proscenium recess.
The audience area slopes, the floor is solid and carpeted and the walls have two
especies of wood type and marmol. The audience area is composed by chairs with
a maximum degree of upholstery, which means that absorption grows (in the case
of occupied chairs) with the percentage of upholstery chairs, especially on low
frequencies. (Beranek).

Image 98
CAE concert hall stage view.
Image 99
CAE concert hall sound technician view.

Image 100
CAE concert hall architectural plant.
Image 101
CAE concert hall architectural cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Hall TR30 (s) 2,88 2,66 1,99 1,67 1,50 1,34 0,99
EDT (s) 2,09 1,89 1,55 1,48 1,38 1,16 0,97
C80 (dB) -0,5 0,5 0,9 0,9 2,5 3,6 5,6
D50 (%) 34 41 41 38 50 53 61
Tc (ms) 154 129 111 108 86 72 53
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) -1,4 7,1 5,8 6,6 8,7 9,6 10,8
D50 (%) 41 83 78 81 88 89 91
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,79 1,51 1,50 0,79
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,54
800 7488
SA S0 Spit ST
481 224 56 717

9,4 0,7 10,4 2,02-10
Reverberation Time
3,00
2,50
Time (Sec.)
2,00
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 2,88 2,66 1,99 1,67 1,50 1,34 0,99
Frequency (Hz)

7.4. Casa da Música
The idea of building Casa da Música came up in the extent of Oporto 2001 – The
European Capital of Culture and it was shown to the public as a paradigm of the
transformations to raise to power in town at the time of this event. Conceived by
the Dutch arquitect Rem Koolhaas, Casa da Música is a multidiscipline and
polyvalent space, with undercarriages, spaces, extraordinary technical and
acoustic means to the production and shelter of various musical shows and other
events.
Its action will certainly mark the Portuguese cultural scenery as a centre of
production, divulging and a privileged musical formation, through the interpreter’s
improvement, new audience’s creation, innovation and as recording centre, for its
technical and acoustics improved conditions.
The Big Auditorium will be the neuralgic centre and the public heart of the House of
Music. With a total area of 1100 m2 and the capacity for 1238 seats, it is gifted with
the most demanding acoustics and technical conditions to the welcoming of
medium and big productions. It also has all the needed structures for recording,
filming and show’s transmission in ideal conditions. With the shape of a huge
rectangle, it has laterally and in its ends, glazed areas which allow the visual
communication with other public areas of the building. Behind the pit ( audience)
and the stage, two glass walls complete the principle of transparency which
presided at its conception. The pit in slope has also two small lateral dress-circles
for 26 people. The stage, with a capacity for 110 musicians, divides itself in several
sections equipped with elevators. It can still be amplified by the removability of the
first four rows of the pit, allowing the creation of an orchestra ditch. The back side
of stage can still take a choir of 143 elements. The installation of two organ pipes
of different features will be a rare value in world-wide terms. In the inside
decoration, the silver and golden colours prevail, opposing intentionally with light
movements proportionate by its glassed spaces.

Image 102
Casa da Música chorus view.
Image 103
Casa da Música concert hall.

Image 104
Casa da Música architectural plant.
Image 105
Casa da Música architectural cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,05 1,72 1,73 1,81 1,79 1,60 1,26
EDT (s) 1,94 1,74 1,68 1,60 1,69 1,51 1,19
C80 (dB) -2,4 -0,5 0,3 0,7 0,7 1,2 3,1
D50 (%) 21 33 35 36 39 42 50
Tc (ms) 157 124 117 109 109 97 71
G (dB) - - - - - - -
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,77 1,64 1,07 0,96
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,50
1238 13376
SA S0 Spit ST
653 180 - 833

10,80 0,53 16,06 1,22 -10
Reverberation Time
2,50
Time (Sec.)
2,00
1,50
1,00
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 2,05 1,72 1,73 1,81 1,79 1,60 1,26
Frequency (Hz)

7.5. CNEMA – Exposition National Centre
Located at only 2 km from the centre of the city, the National Exhibitions Centre
was inaugurated in 1994, being the result of an extreme necessity of constructing a
modern and adequate exposition centre facing the demandings of the evolution of
the National Agriculture Fair/ Ribatejo Fair, an annual event that gave world wide
prestige to the name of this city. The necessity of changing started to be felt at the
end of the seventies decade. The posterior editions of this fair are more and more
focused on the agriculture technical aspects and problems as well as on the
Portuguese entry in CEE. At the beginning of the eighties same lands are bought
and in 1989 the constitution of the “CNEMA” society, that brings live to the now
existing National Centre of Exhibitions, is signed.
In 1994 the fair already took place in this centre. Modern, functional, and
polyvalent, this centre brought a lot of improvements to the fair, to the exhibitioners
as well as to the visitors, which number has grown up year after year, thanks to the
space and facilities they now have.
The Main Auditorium disposed in an amphitheatre, with 1200 seats, it’s equipped
with the most modern sound, light and video projection systems. It has two
dressing rooms (in the basement) with capacity for 50 people, with wc’s, shower
and make up room, stage, six cabins of simultaneous translation an four VIP
boxes.
Image 106
CNEMA concert/conference hall stage and lotation plant.

Image 107
CNEMA concert/conference hall stage view during the measurements.
Image 108
CNEMA concert/conference hall.

Image 109
CNEMA concert/conference hall architectural cut.
Image 110
CNEMA concert/conference hall architectural plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,84 1,62 1,54 1,79 1,75 1,46 1,05
EDT (s) 1,67 1,54 1,48 1,64 1,52 1,34 1,05
C80 (dB) 0,3 1,3 0,4 0,9 2,0 3,2 6,5
D50 (%) 39 46 41 47 52 57 73
Tc (ms) 123 102 103 99 86 70 43
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 0,3 0,2 3,4 1,0 4,1 4,7 6,4
D50 (%) 51 51 67 55 70 74 80
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,65 1,56 1,04 0,97
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,56
1200 7776
SA S0 Spit ST
606 169 - 775

6,48 0,51 10,03 2,00 -10
Reverberation Time
2,50
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,84 1,62 1,54 1,79 1,75 1,46 1,05
Frequency (Hz)

7.6. Oporto Coliseum
In 1911, the Salão Jardim Passos Manuel (now known as Coliseu do Porto),
suffered some improvements and was extended, having also a garden esplanade,
a party room, a restaurant, an hall and a small theatre. By the end of the 1920’s,
trying to keep up with the society cultural habits, the room becomes a polyvalent
space that received cinematography successes, social evenings, cultural reunions
and conferences. By the end of the 1930’s, its activity started to decay, partly due
to the rising of other entertainment forms. It was in this mythical place that Oporto
saw its coliseum being born.
Unexpectedly, it’s in a season where the world is leaving under an extreme
insecurity that the project starts moving on. The Coliseu do Porto took 22 months
to be built and cost a lot more than what was usual back then.
In 1937, the building starts to rise but it is only in 1939 when Cassiano Branco
takes charge as head- architect, with the collaboration of Júlio Brito, with whom he
would later have a conflict. After various events and after several architects,
engineers and contractors, the coliseum is finished in 1941, in a modern style that
immediately became an architectonical reference. A modern building that marks in
an undeniable way Oporto’s downtown as well as the heart of every citizen.
For several decades, the coliseum had a glamorous life, bringing to the Oporto
citizens all kinds of shows: opera, dance, classical music, pop music, variety
shows, musicals, circus, carnival parties, new year parties, movies, social evenings
and congresses. After a big fire in November 28th of 1996, the coliseum opened its
doors, after an impressive recovery, in November 24th of 1998, with the
presentation of the opera Carmen, by Bizet, in a co-production with the Oporto
Opera’s Circle and the Oporto National Orchestra.
At the same time, the equipments and technologies were modernized, and the
coliseum has now all the conditions to receive all kind of shows, including large
dimensions shows. These improvements made the coliseum a polyvalent room
able to recover its “golden years”.
In 2001, Oporto was the european cultural capital, a great opportunity to show the
world what an excellent cultural property the coliseum is.

Image 111
Oporto Coliseum concert hall.
Image 112
Oporto Coliseum concert hall audience view.

Image 113
Oporto Coliseum concert hall lotation plant.
Image 114
Oporto Coliseum concert hall architectonic plant and main dimensions.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,46 2,34 2,45 2,51 2,65 2,42 1,77
EDT (s) 2,47 2,33 2,39 2,51 2,65 2,24 1,50
C80 (dB) -1,5 -1,7 -0,9 -0,6 -0,4 1,0 2,9
D50 (%) 28 27 29 34 35 44 54
Tc (ms) 178 167 158 156 163 128 87
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 1,6 5,6 6,3 6,4 6,1 7,9 9,3
D50 (%) 59 78 80 79 79 85 89
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
2,48 2,45 0,97 1,02
2. Theatre/Pop/Rock Configuration
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,88 2,90 3,03 2,99 2,95 2,59 1,86
EDT (s) 2,57 2,83 3,09 3,08 3,05 2,66 1,69
C80 (dB) -0,2 -1,3 -2,2 -0,7 -0,8 1,8 4,5
D50 (%) 36 33 28 37 33 50 64
Tc (ms) 165 180 205 181 183 122 72
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) -0,7 5,4 7,3 7,2 8,7 10,3 12,7
D50 (%) 46 77 84 82 88 91 94
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
3,01 3,08 0,96 0,92
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,47
3500 12566
SA S0 Spit ST
628 180 87 896
V/ST SA/N V/N EDT/(Vx106)

6,47 0,32 14,03 1,94 -10

Reverberation Time
3,50
Time (Sec.)
3,00
2,50
2,00
1,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Orchestra 2,46 2,34 2,45 2,51 2,65 2,42 1,77
Theater/Pop/Rock 2,88 2,90 3,03 2,99 2,95 2,59 1,86
Frequency (Hz)

7.7. Recreios Coliseum
On August 14, 1890, a big show room opened in Lisbon, the newest Coliseu dos
Recreios. Several motifs lead to the closure of other show rooms, what became
urgent the construction of this new space, located in Rua das Portas de Santo
Antão and opened to the public even before being finished. Having the
collaboration of foreign artists, the coliseum was an innovation in what concerns to
the introduction of iron in the architecture, what was rare in Portugal, trough the
spectacular iron copula, with 25 metres of width and 100 tons of weight, that
imported from Berlin. The engineer Lacombe installed the roof, also in iron, in
1889. The engineers Goulard, father and son, and the portuguese Manuel Garcia
Júnior were the responsible by the line of the project; the metallic construction was
under the care of Castanheira das Neves and the paintings and decoration were
due to the painter António Machado. The architect Cesare Ianz took care of the
project of the 3 storey-building facade, with decorative motifs in plaster and a few
figure-head, that give and increase its graciosity, being the last part finished. It’s
construction is due to four daring enterprisers (the solicitor José Frederico Ciríaco,
the philosophy professor Pedro António Monteiro, the warehouse owner António
Caetano Macieira and the meat tradesman João Baptista G. de Ahneida), that
thought in building the biggest covered building in the world in the show context
and which the capacity would rise above the 4000 seats.
Several exterior and interior restoration works were performed in this show room.
Inside the showroom, the most significant changes took place in the gallery and in
the reserved gallery that are now continuous, and in the narrow balcony above the
central entrance that simply was removed. In the ceiling, a massive globe was put
in the middle of the room, surrounded by others through 2 concentric
circumferences.
These works were concluded in February of 1994 and the room was opened at the
end of the same month with a concert that marked the beginning of the cultural
events of “Lisboa 94”.

Image 115
Recreios Coliseum stage view.
Image 116
Recreios Coliseum concert hall.

Image 117
Recreios Coliseum architectural cut.
Image 118
Recreios Coliseum architectural plant.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 2,56 2,51 2,35 2,37 2,26 2,03 1,58
EDT (s) 2,88 3,04 2,54 2,48 2,36 2,14 1,65
C80 (dB) -0,1 -1,1 -2,0 -3,7 -0,8 -1,6 0,0
D50 (%) 42 37 32 21 37 31 38
Tc (ms) 161 178 170 194 144 148 112
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 1,5 8,3 6,4 7,7 8,7 7,5 7,8
D50 (%) 58 87 81 85 88 83 81
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
2,36 2,51 1,07 0,91
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,44
2500 25817
SA S0 Spit ST
695 180 62 937

13,66 0,37 27,55 9,73 -11
Reverberation Time
3,00
Time (Sec.)
2,50
2,00
1,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 2,56 2,51 2,35 2,37 2,26 2,03 1,58
Frequency (Hz)

7.8. Culturgest
Caixa Geral de Depósitos had it’s first main building in Calhariz, in 1987. Since
then, the institution expansion, around Lisbon, in what concerns to central support
services, lead to the necessity of occupying about 29 buildings and to the
communication difficulties that came with this dispersion.
So, a land located between Campo Pequeno and London Square, where at the
end of the 50’s the Companhia das Fábricas de Cerâmica Lusitana was installed
and that presented all the necessary characteristics was chosen.
The selected Project, from the architect Arsénio Cordeiro, then began. At the end
of 1989 it suffered several changes, due to the modernization politics,
regionalization and consequent rationalization of effectives.
Culturgest it’s a cultural space that integrates two auditoriums for congresses,
seminars, conferences, concerts, theatres, ballet and two galleries for exhibitions,
reunions rooms, press room and other support structures.
According to the Amphi-theatre shape, with a trapeze form, two characteristics
were treated with special care: form (which is related to the sound propagation)
and materials (related with the Reverberation Time and Inteligibility of Word), like
Aula Magna concert hall.
The shape of the back hall is concave, which is not advisable by the acoustics
experts because it can cause sound focalizations. However, it was constructed
with an inclination of > 6% to avoid completely the origin of any echoes.

Image 119
Culturgest concert/conference hall stage view.
Image 120
Culturgest concert/conference hall.

Image 121
Culturgest concert/conference hall architectural cut.
Image 122
Culturgest concert/conference hall architectural plant.

1. Small Orchestra Configuration: Half Acoustic Shell on Stage
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,44 1,28 0,93 0,94 0,91 0,81 0,67
EDT (s) 0,93 0,85 0,92 1,05 0,95 0,86 0,80
C80 (dB) 3,0 5,2 4,0 3,9 4,7 6,4 7,7
D50 (%) 50 63 57 57 62 68 73
Tc (ms) 78 59 62 62 55 42 35
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 5,5 7,4 6,4 6,8 5,6 6,3 8,8
D50 (%) 75 84 81 80 78 77 82
2.Conferences and Pop/Rock Configuration:
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,70 1,47 0,99 0,88 0,84 0,75 0,62
EDT (s) 0,95 0,77 0,80 0,87 0,82 0,78 0,65
C80 (dB) 3,6 6,5 5,2 4,6 5,7 6,8 8,5
D50 (%) 51 72 60 59 66 69 75
Tc (ms) 76 49 56 59 49 41 33
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 5,5 6,1 8,0 6,6 6,9 8,4 10,6
D50 (%) 79 77 84 79 80 85 91
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
0,93 0,84 1,70 0,85
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,66
652 4646
SA S0 Spit ST
371 151 40 562

7,13 0,57 8,26 1,80 -10

Reverberation Time
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Small Orchestra 1,44 1,28 0,93 0,94 0,91 0,81 0,67
Pop/Rock 1,70 1,47 0,99 0,88 0,84 0,75 0,62
Frequency (Hz)

7.9. Europarque
Europarque – Economical and Cultural Center is in Santa Maria da Feira, located

30 Km south of Oporto, next to main motorway axis Lisboa-Oporto.
Only recently, for events like conferences and commercial exhibitions, the only
equipped infrastructures was Exponor. Europarque´s program seeks the
development and the organisation of cultural, commercial and social events of high
standard quality in the attempt of pushing the main sectors of Portuguese society
to European levels. In this location it will concentrate, a congress centre, a
performing arts centre (the one that is studied in this work), a technological centre,
a leisure centre and a wildlife centre.
One can easily understand the enormous versatily and polyvalence required by the
program, project and building of this centre. All spaces, systems and equipments
have been built with one common goal: performing many different types of events:
for Live Performances (Opera, Theatre and dance; Concerts and Fashion Show),
Projection (Cinema and Video) and for Presentations like Congress, Conferences,
Seminars and Marketing presentations.
The official inauguration was held on April 8th 1995. On April 11th Europarque
opened to the grater public to present the 1st World Voice Congress.
A grand concert was held to conclude the congress works that gathered, on the
same stage, four of the most magnificient “Bel Canto” voices: José Carreras,
Agnes Balsa, Oleana Cotrubas and Ferrucio Furlanetto, accompanied by the
Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa directed by maestro Manuel Ivo Cruz.
During the first season the polyvalence of this performing arts centre was tested by
presenting several different types of events in areas like politics, commerce and
performing arts.
In his architectural project, Europarque had ARSUNA, Lda with the coordenation of
Arq. Flavio Tirone and the colaboration of Arqs. Cidália C. Worm, Paulo Ramos,
Nuno Dias and Pedro Pereira.

Image 123
Europarque concert/conference hall.
Image 124
Europarque concert/conference hall stage view.

Image 125
Europarque concert/conference hall architectonic plant.
Image 126
Europarque concert/conference hall architectonic cut.

Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,71 1,74 1,90 1,98 1,85 1,53 1,25
EDT (s) 1,56 1,72 1,76 1,82 1,71 1,53 1,29
C80 (dB) 0,3 -0,1 -0,5 -1,9 0,0 -0,7 -0,8
D50 (%) 36 37 36 28 39 36 36
Tc (ms) 123 125 128 141 117 112 100
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 0,8 2,4 4,7 5,8 4,3 4,3 6,4
D50 (%) 53 62 73 78 73 73 81
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,94 1,79 0,89 0,87
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,50
1414 12730
SA S0 Spit ST
822 162 20 1004

9,00 0,58 12,68 1,41 -10
Reverberation Time
2,50
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
RT30 1,71 1,74 1,90 1,98 1,85 1,53 1,25
Frequency (Hz)

7.10. Gulbenkian
The Headquarters of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon were opened

in October 1969. They include a concert auditorium (the Great Hall), a conference
suite, and a museum, a library and an Office block.
The auditorium was to be designed primarily for music, but a subsequent
requirement arose for ballet, and it had to be usable for lectures and films. Seating
was to be provided for about 1300 people.
The general character of the auditorium will be evident from plants showed after.
The audience área is rectilinear in main plan and cross-section, with the stage
embodied in the hall rather than in a proscenium recess. The audience área
slopes, and the stage can be set either flat, or raked in a variety of arrangements.
The design of the complex had been won in a limited competition by three
Portuguese architects Cid, dÁtoughia and Pessoa, working as a temporary
partnership. As acoustic and noise consultant throughout the Project was William
A. Allen.
The desire approximate volume of the auditorium had been determinated initially
by assuming that the audience and performers should provide almost the entire
absorption requirements. It was thought at that date, 1959, that a Reverberation
Time of 1,6 or 1,7 seconds at 500 Hz should be the aim for a hall of this size, and a
initial target of about 9 m3 per person was set for the volume. In the event
architectural constraints reduced this, but not severely.
The floor is solid and carpeted, the walls have a lining 5 cm thick in wood and the
ceilling dense flaxboard panels, also 5 cm thick, with a bronze metal face.
The stage area is large for a hall of this size, but is particullary unique in its
flexibility. The hall was originally conceived as a concert hall, but at a relatively late
stage in the design a more multi-purpose role was foreseen, with a particulary
requirement of use for ballet. Since a flytower was considered architecturally
undesirable, the necessary flexibility was achieved by making the stage a series of
surfaces on lifts, by making the satge side-panels rotable and enclosing the stage
rear with full-height lifts or curtain.

Image 127
Gulbenkian Concert hall stage view side walls during the measurements.
Image 128
Gulbenkian Concert hall stage view during the measurements.

Image 129
Gulbenkian Concert hall architectonic plant.
Image 130
Gulbenkian Concert hall architectural cut.
Image 131
Gulbenkian Concert hall stage lifts design.

1. Orchestra Configuration: Acoustics Shell on Stage
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,54 1,50 1,52 1,64 1,58 1,37 1,05
EDT (s) 1,17 1,28 1,30 1,42 1,35 1,15 0,88
C80 (dB) 0,3 0,4 1,0 0,7 2,0 2,2 3,7
D50 (%) 33 33 39 38 46 46 52
Tc (ms) 113 107 98 104 89 82 66
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) 4,5 4,5 6,6 6,9 5,7 5,7 8,2
D50 (%) 72 73 80 82 78 77 84
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,58 1,36 0,96 0,93
2. Theatre/Dance Configuration:
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Audience TR30 (s) 1,46 1,39 1,27 1,32 1,31 1,18 0,88
EDT (s) 1,46 1,29 1,20 1,30 1,18 0,99 0,72
C80 (dB) -3,5 -2,2 0,3 1,7 2,2 2,2 3,6
D50 (%) 32 39 51 59 61 60 68
Tc (ms) 116 95 72 64 61 56 43
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,30 1,25 1,10 0,96
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,61
1300 8221
SA S0 Spit ST
607 180 54 841

6,32 0,47 9,77 1,65 -10

Reverberation Time
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Orchestra 1,54 1,50 1,52 1,64 1,58 1,37 1,05
Dance 1,46 1,39 1,27 1,32 1,31 1,18 0,88
Frequency (Hz)

7.11. Olga Cadaval Cultural Centre
The Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval is part of the country’s cultural revitalization
policy in which the recovery of the existing performing arts spaces is of extreme
importance.
Included in the boom of cinemas construction, and after several changes to the
original project, the Cine Teatro Carlos Manuel was built in 1945 with the project
signed by the architect Joaquim Norte Junior. Despite the most significant work of
this architect, it was considered representative of a late modern style with Art Deco
elements, also belonging to the classic functional typology for theatres.
Having been a landmark of Sintra’s social and cultural life for 40 years, the fire of
1985 would destroy not only the physical space but also the region’s aesthetical
rhetoric reminiscence. A great part of the building was destroyed. The stage, the
backstage, the orchestra pit, the stalls and almost the whole balcony burned.
Three years after the fire, the first studies that intended to give the building a wider
range of uses were started. Given that Sintra is already known as home to various
cultural events, the presence of a space capable to provide a proper answer to
those event’s demands would become very useful.
The first results of these studies lead towards the creation of a 1200-seat
auditorium for Opera, Theatre, Concerts and Dance, and a smaller 200 to 300-seat
multifunctional auditorium, mainly for cinema and congresses. However these
results would be evaluated and changed to honour the original design.
The main Auditorium would have its capacity reduced, but its functionality
increased. The available 1000-seats were not only distributed by the stalls and
balcony, but also by two new levels of interior galleries.
This hall gained not only the possibility of holding congresses, now supported by
translation booths, but also better scenic conditions overall. The apron, the link
between the hall and the scenic tower, was increased to 14m in width and 9m in
height. Rehearsal rooms and technical support spaces, capable of giving an
answer to the scheduling demands, were also designed as part of the Center.

Image 132
CCOC concert hall stage view.
Image 133
CCOC concert hall

Image 134
CCOC concert hall architectural plant.
Image 135
CCOC concert hall architectural cut.

1.Orchestra Configuration: Acoustics Shell on Stage
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Hall TR30 (s) 1,50 1,21 1,11 1,22 1,25 1,16 0,98
EDT (s) 1,21 0,89 0,88 1,02 0,98 0,94 0,77
C80 (dB) 1,3 3,8 4,3 4,3 3,7 4,0 6,0
D50 (%) 40 53 49 52 46 50 62
Tc (ms) 101 75 70 69 76 71 53
G (dB) - - - - - - -
Balcony C80 (dB) 1,8 3,5 3,7 3,7 2,8 3,5 4,2
D50 (%) 37 45 50 51 47 50 56
On Stage C50 (dB) 6,1 5,5 4,6 5,1 3,7 3,9 5,7
D50 (%) 78 77 74 75 70 70 78
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,17 0,95 1,16 1,03
2.Theatre/Dance Configuration:
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Hall TR30 (s) 1,81 1,47 1,19 1,15 1,15 1,01 0,85
EDT (s) 1,39 1,11 0,91 0,94 0,92 0,81 0,63
C80 (dB) 3,6 4,4 6,4 7,6 6,1 7,2 9,3
D50 (%) 51 60 71 77 67 69 79
Tc (ms) 98 71 47 38 52 44 32
G (dB) - - - - - - -
Balcony C80 (dB) 2,2 4,2 6,6 6,8 6,7 7,4 8,3
D50 (%) 49 60 71 73 71 73 77
On Stage C50 (dB) 2,85 1,275 6,4 6,125 7,3 8,8 9,6
D50 (%) 65 56 80 78 85 88 90
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,17 0,93 1,40 0,92

STI
Audience Balcony
0,66 0,7
V N
Volume Seats
8674 1000
SA S0 Spit ST
314 235 50 600

8,6 0,3 14,4 1,09 -10
Reverberation Time
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Orchestra 1,50 1,21 1,11 1,22 1,25 1,16 0,98
Pop/Rock 1,81 1,47 1,19 1,15 1,15 1,01 0,85
Frequency (Hz)

7.12. Vila Flor Cultural Centre
In the centre of a town which is World Heritage, a cultural area was created, it
marks and refines the excellency of Guimarães: the Cultural Centre Vila Flor,
inaugurated in September 17th, 2005. With the purpose of giving the town an
equipment capable of getting (with the appropriate conditions) a large variety of
artistically and cultural events and at the same time, assures a suitable equipment
to receive several activities. The Palace Vila Flor was classified as patrimonial
interest and a theatre was built in its surrounding area, so we now have a public
area. Equipped with two auditoriums, four meeting rooms, an area for exhibitions, a
restaurant, a concert coffee, car parking and magnificent gardens. The Cultural
Centre of Vila Flor reinforces the culture vocation of Guimarães.
The Palace Vila Flor was built in the 18th century by a member of the local nobility:
Tadeu Luís António Lopes de Carvalho de Fonseca e Camões. It was later
purchased by the family of the Counts of Arrochela who received the Queen D.
Maria II, in the visit where the village of Guimarães was established as town. Sold
again, in 1884, there was the first Industrial and Commercial exhibition of
Guimarães. Later, the new owner was the Jordão family, who finished the work first
initiated by Tadeu Luís, except for the sequence of Portugal King’s statues on the
north and East fronts of the Palace.
The Palace was afterwards purchased by the Town Hall of Guimarães in
1976,with its inside destroyed.
None of these works foresaw the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Palace
as a whole, so its inside was in ruins and it was constantly changed not respecting
the original style.
In Vila Flor farm, boxwood gardens were kept intact, in front of the north side of
the Palace and they are considered the best gardens of the country.
It’s in this Palace of the 18th century that one can find the Vila Flor Cultural
Centre.

Image 136
Vila Flor concert hall stage view.
Image 137
Vila Flor concert hall sound technician view.

Image 138
Vila Flor concert hall architectural cut.
Image 139
Vila Flor concert hall architectural plant.

1.Orchestra Configuration: Acoustics Shell on Stage
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Hall TR30 (s) 1,96 1,57 1,39 1,32 1,25 1,15 0,91
EDT (s) 1,55 1,37 1,24 1,07 1,06 1,02 0,88
C80 (dB) -1,0 0,0 0,4 1,3 2,2 1,3 2,0
D50 (%) 27,7 31,9 33,8 38,6 45,9 37,1 36,4
Tc (ms) 131,9 112,2 104,6 93,5 82,0 86,8 79,6
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) -4,0 0,4 0,1 2,1 2,0 2,6 3,9
D50 (%) 28 52 51 61 61 64 69
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,36 1,15 1,30 0,88
2.Theatre/Dance Configuration:
Hz
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Hall TR30 (s) 2,27 1,73 1,22 1,05 1,02 0,94 0,79
EDT (s) 1,58 1,23 0,85 0,70 0,71 0,68 0,58
C80 (dB) 1,2 3,3 5,4 6,3 6,8 6,9 7,9
D50 (%) 42,3 52,6 56,4 54,2 65,2 65,6 68,1
Tc (ms) 116,1 82,6 61,2 55,8 47,5 48,6 43,4
G (dB) - - - - - - -
On Stage C50 (dB) -2,4 6,2 6,9 8,7 6,6 6,5 8,3
D50 (%) 36,0 80,7 83,0 87,7 81,3 80,3 86,0
Seconds
RTmid EDTmid BR Br
1,14 0,77 1,76 0,87
N V STI
Seats Volume 0,64
800 4319
SA S0 Spit ST
415 180 91 686

5,40 0,52 6,30 2,67 -10

Reverberation Time
2,50
2,00
Time (Sec.)
1,50
1,00
0,50
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Orchestra 1,96 1,57 1,39 1,32 1,25 1,15 0,91
Pop/Rock 2,27 1,73 1,22 1,05 1,02 0,94 0,79
Frequency (Hz)

8. Reveberation Time
Reverberation Time is the global quantitative criterion of the sound field in the
room. The reverberation time must be in the proper range depending on the room
size and the style of music.
In the next tables it is shown the Reverberation Time of each hall studied in this
work, in 7 Center Frequencies of Filter Octave Bands (Hertz).
The halls which have “Orchester” or “Conference” names means that the objective
room measurements were done with or without (respectively Orchester or
Conference) an Acoustics Shell on stage, properly to be use by a Symphonic
Orchestra.
TR30(Seconds)
Name of Hall Center Frequencies of Filter Bands - Hz
Concert Halls 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Aula Magna 1,57 1,59 1,68 1,87 1,86 1,64 1,27
CCB 1,97 1,82 1,83 1,87 1,77 1,50 1,05
CAE 2,88 2,66 1,99 1,67 1,50 1,34 0,99
Casa da Música 2,05 1,72 1,73 1,81 1,79 1,60 1,26
CNEMA 1,84 1,62 1,54 1,79 1,75 1,46 1,05
Oporto Coliseum (Orchester) 2,46 2,34 2,45 2,51 2,65 2,42 1,77
Recreios Coliseum 2,56 2,51 2,35 2,37 2,26 2,03 1,58
Culturgest (Conference) 1,70 1,47 0,99 0,88 0,84 0,75 0,62
Europarque 1,71 1,74 1,90 1,98 1,85 1,53 1,25
Gulbenkian (Orchester) 1,54 1,50 1,52 1,64 1,58 1,37 1,05
Olga Cadaval (Orchester) 1,50 1,21 1,11 1,22 1,25 1,16 0,98
Vila Flor Cultural Centre 1,96 1,57 1,39 1,32 1,25 1,15 0,91

Name Center Frequencies of Filter Bands - Hz
XVIIIth Century Theatres 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
São João National Theatre 1,80 1,45 1,25 1,22 1,22 1,12 0,93
S. Carlos National Theatre 1,43 1,19 1,15 1,04 1,00 0,97 0,88
Center Frequencies of Filter Bands - Hz
XIX th Century Theatres 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
D. Maria II National Theatre 1,15 1,13 1,18 1,10 0,95 0,82 0,68
Garcia Resende Theatre 1,27 1,34 1,25 0,95 0,80 0,70 0,57
Sá de Miranda Municipal Theatre 2,15 1,91 1,55 1,26 1,15 1,01 0,85
São Luiz Municipal Theatre 2,10 1,82 1,52 1,37 1,24 1,08 0,86
Viriato Theatre 1,89 1,59 1,29 1,03 0,86 0,78 0,67
Trindade Theatre 1,06 0,92 0,82 0,76 0,75 0,71 0,62
XX th Century Theatres 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Aveirense Theatre 2,41 2,23 1,90 1,42 1,13 1,00 0,86
Bragança Municipal Theatre 1,29 1,25 1,37 1,35 1,34 1,19 0,94
Camões Theatre 2,15 1,81 1,44 1,30 1,21 1,09 0,93
Carlos Alberto Theatre 1,67 1,50 1,20 1,15 1,12 1,04 0,92
Faro Municipal Theatre (Orchester) 1,89 1,87 1,87 1,84 1,75 1,49 1,15
Gil Vicente Academic Theatre 1,58 1,38 1,09 1,06 0,96 0,83 0,68
Guarda Municipal Theatre 2,38 1,93 1,22 1,02 1,01 0,93 0,77
Helena Sá e Costa Theatre 1,47 1,44 1,18 1,09 1,07 0,87 0,65
Maria Matos Municipal Theatre 1,32 1,16 1,00 1,09 1,22 1,20 1,01
Politeama Theatre 1,29 1,09 0,96 0,93 0,89 0,79 0,66
Rivoli Municipal Theatre 2,75 2,27 1,60 1,36 1,17 0,94 0,60
Vila Real Municipal Theatre 1,85 1,44 1,21 1,16 1,15 1,14 0,95

9. Early Decay Time
The EDT is a reverberation time derived from the initial 10 dB of decay. It is the
length of time that it takes for the sound to decay 10 dB after the sound source is
turned off. EDT more closely corresponds to subjective evaluation of the
reverberation time then RT.
In the next tables it is shown the Early Decay Time of each hall studied in this
work, in 7 Center Frequencies of Filter Octave Bands (Hertz).
Orchestra.
EDT
(Seconds)
Concert Halls 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Aula Magna 1,46 1,62 1,77 1,96 1,94 1,71 1,27
CCB 1,53 1,65 1,82 1,84 1,59 1,27 0,80
CAE 2,09 1,89 1,55 1,48 1,38 1,16 0,97
Casa da Música 1,94 1,74 1,68 1,60 1,69 1,51 1,19
CNEMA 1,67 1,54 1,48 1,64 1,52 1,34 1,05
Oporto Coliseum (Orchester) 2,47 2,33 2,39 2,51 2,65 2,24 1,50
Recreios Coliseum 2,88 3,04 2,54 2,48 2,36 2,14 1,65
Culturgest (Conference) 0,95 0,77 0,80 0,87 0,82 0,78 0,65
Europarque 1,56 1,72 1,76 1,82 1,71 1,53 1,29
Vila Flor Cultural Centre 1,55 1,37 1,24 1,07 1,06 1,02 0,88

São Luiz Municipal Theatre 1,95 1,48 1,29 1,13 1,06 0,93 0,71
Viriato Theatre 1,25 1,02 0,85 0,77 0,73 0,73 0,69
Camões Theatre 1,09 1,19 1,19 1,03 0,99 0,84 0,73
Faro Municipal Theatre (Orchester) 1,62 1,43 1,47 1,49 1,26 1,07 0,81
Vila Real Municipal Theatre 1,72 1,43 1,41 1,39 1,32 1,41 1,10

10. Clarity (C80)
Clarity means the ratio of the energy in the early sound compared to that in the
reverberant sound, expressed in dB. Early sound is what is heard in the first 80
msec after the arrival of the direct sound. It is a measure of the degree to which the
individual sounds stand apart from one another.
In the next tables it is shown the Clarity of each hall studied in this work, in 7
Center Frequencies of Filter Octave Bands (Hertz).
Orchestra.
C80
(dB)
Concert Halls 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Aula Magna 1,46 0,92 0,02 -0,60 -0,10 0,20 2,12
CCB -0,3 1,1 1,5 2,1 2,3 3,6 6,7
CAE -0,5 0,5 0,9 0,9 2,5 3,6 5,6

Casa da Música -2,4 -0,5 0,3 0,7 0,7 1,2 3,1
CNEMA 0,3 1,3 0,4 0,9 2,0 3,2 6,5
Oporto Coliseum (Orchester) -1,5 -1,7 -0,9 -0,6 -0,4 1,0 2,9
Recreios Coliseum -0,1 -1,1 -2,0 -3,7 -0,8 -1,6 0,0
Culturgest (Conference) 51 72 60 59 66 69 75
Europarque 0,3 -0,1 -0,5 -1,9 0,0 -0,7 -0,8
Vila Flor Cultural Centre -1,0 0,0 0,4 1,3 2,2 1,3 2,0

São Luiz Municipal Theatre -1,2 2,2 2,4 2,8 3,5 4,4 6,0
Viriato Theatre 3,2 4,7 4,8 5,4 6,1 6,9 8,2
Camões Theatre 3,5 2,7 1,7 0,5 3,6 3,2 3,3
Faro Municipal Theatre (Orchester) -0,1 1,3 0,9 1,7 2,5 3,7 5,5
Vila Real Municipal Theatre -0,8 2,3 2,1 1,8 3,0 3,2 5,2

11. Definition (D50)
Definition is the ration of early sound energy to the total sound energy in Percent
(%). It shows the difference of the level at the time range 0 - 50 ms as against the
level at integration over the entire time range from zero to the end.
The larger this parameter, the more distinct the sound signal is felt, because it will
then be less disturbed by later diffuse sound.
In the next tables it is shown the Definition of each hall studied in this work, in 7
Center Frequencies of Filter Octave Bands (Hertz).
Orchestra.
D50
(dB)
Concert Halls 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
Aula Magna 45 42 35 31 37 37 46
CCB 27 43 44 48 45 53 66
CAE 34 41 41 38 50 53 61
Casa da Música 21 33 35 36 39 42 50
CNEMA 39 46 41 47 52 57 73
Oporto Coliseum (Orchester) 28 27 29 34 35 44 54
Recreios Coliseum 42 37 32 21 37 31 38
Culturgest (Conference) 51 72 60 59 66 69 75
Europarque 36 37 36 28 39 36 36
Gulbenkian (Orchester) 33 33 39 38 46 46 52
Olga Cadaval (Orchester) 40 53 49 52 46 50 62
Vila Flor Cultural Centre 28 32 34 39 46 37 36

São João National Theatre 36 47 49 43 55 54 59
S. Carlos National Theatre 35 40 47 43 47 57 65
D. Maria II National Theatre 40 55 51 51 60 74 79
Garcia Resende Theatre 51 59 57 59 67 70 79
Sá de Miranda Municipal Theatre 42 42 49 58 55 66 77
São Luiz Municipal Theatre 26 42 44 48 52 56 62
Viriato Theatre 54 65 61 60 68 73 78
Trindade Theatre 58 61 63 66 74 72 70
Aveirense Theatre 49 55 56 60 66 69 77
Bragança Municipal Theatre 45 50 51 54 47 51 65
Camões Theatre 52 52 48 40 57 51 49
Carlos Alberto Theatre 48 47 48 41 55 53 59
Faro Municipal Theatre (Orchester) 31 40 35 41 41 48 61

Gil Vicente Academic Theatre 36 49 60 50 63 54 61
Guarda Municipal Theatre 47 55 62 50 52 50 53
Helena Sá e Costa Theatre 38 50 60 61 58 70 82
Maria Matos Municipal Theatre 57 62 51 48 45 51 55

Politeama Theatre 34 52 53 54 63 80 84
Rivoli Municipal Theatre 35 53 65 68 64 69 79
Vila Real Municipal Theatre 36 53 53 50 59 60 66

12. Other Data Evaluation
In the next tables it is shown several evaluation parameters of each hall studied in
this work, in 7 Center Frequencies of Filter Octave Bands (Hertz), like as:
1. Number of seats (N)
2. Volume (V)
3. Reverberation Time mid (an average between the 500Hz and 1000Hz
values of RT)
4. Early Decay Time mid (an average between the 500Hz and 1000Hz values
of EDT)
5. Bass Ratio and Brightness Ratio (BR and Br)
6. STI (Speech Transmission Index)
The following data, due to the autor of this essay not having the exactly room
plants (with scales), are aproximated values, what can lead to miscalculation of
some parameters, like, High, Width and Length (and of course the Volume). These
are marked with an *.
Name Year N V Seconds

Concert Halls Seats Volume RTmid EDTmid BR Br STI
Aula Magna 1961 1597 14018 * 1,77 1,88 0,88 0,98 0,5
1
CCB 1992 1200 13395 1,85 1,83 1,02 0,88 0,55
CAE 2002 800 7488 1,79 1,51 1,50 0,79 0,54
Casa da Música 2005 1238 13376 1,77 1,64 1,07 0,96 0,50
CNEMA 1994 1200 7776 * 1,65 1,56 1,04 0,97 0,56
Oporto Coliseum (Orchester) 3000 1941 12566 * 2,48 2,45 0,97 1,02 0,47
Recreios Coliseum 2500 1890 25817 * 2,36 2,51 1,07 0,91 0,44
Culturgest (Conference) 1993 652 4646 0,93 0,84 1,70 0,85 0,66
Europarque 1995 1414 12730 * 1,94 1,79 0,89 0,87 0,50
Gulbenkian (Orchester) 1969 1300 8221 * 1,58 1,36 0,96 0,93 0,61
Olga Cadaval (Orchester) 1945 1000 8674 1,17 0,95 1,16 1,03 0,66
Vila Flor Cultural Centre 2005 800 4319 1,36 1,15 1,30 0,88 0,64

XVIIIth Century Theatres Seats Volume RTmid EDTmid BR Br STI
São João National Theatre 1798 600 2603 1,24 1,19 1,31 0,95 0,58
S. Carlos National Theatre 1793 600 3729 * 1,10 1,20 1,19 0,90 0,58
XIX th Century Theatres Seats Volume RTmid EDTmid BR Br STI
D. Maria II National Theatre 1846 600 2549 1,13 1,09 1 0,78 0,63
Garcia Resende Theatre 1892 500 1577 * 1,10 0,83 1,19 0,68 0,67
Sá de Miranda Municipal Theatre 1885 400 1815 1,41 1,35 1,44 0,77 0,58
São Luiz Municipal Theatre 1894 730 3630 1,44 1,19 1,37 0,80 0,58
Viriato Theatre 1883 252 1364 1,15 0,79 1,51 0,71 0,65
Trindade Theatre 1867 600 2212 * 0,79 0,70 1,26 0,92 0,69
XX th Century Theatres Seats Volume RTmid EDTmid BR Br STI
Aveirense Theatre 2003 663 3422 1,66 1,06 1,40 0,64 0,63
Bragança Municipal Theatre 2004 400 3274 1,11 0,82 1,10 0,87 0,63
Camões Theatre 1998 890 6295 1,37 1,10 1,40 0,83 0,6
Carlos Alberto Theatre 2003 342 2921 1,18 1,15 1,34 0,92 0,59
Faro Municipal Theatre (Orchester) 2005 794 5985 1,85 1,48 1,02 0,88 0,60
Gil Vicente Academic Theatre 1961 773 3180 * 1,08 1,01 1,38 0,84 0,60
Guarda Municipal Theatre 2005 626 6027 1,11 0,92 1,94 0,86 0,61
Helena Sá e Costa Theatre 2000 254 686 1,14 1,06 1,28 0,85 0,62
Maria Matos Municipal Theatre 1969 570 2412 1,04 1,07 1,19 1,16 0,59
Politeama Theatre 1913 638 3600 * 0,95 0,94 1,26 0,89 0,67
Rivoli Municipal Theatre 1913 874 4651 1,48 1,05 1,70 0,72 0,64
Vila Real Municipal Theatre 2005 500 5324 * 1,20 1,40 1,39 0,96 0,56

Other evaluation parameters are shown in the next tables, such as:
1. Volume / Number of seats (V/N)

2. Volume / Total Area (V/ ST)
3. Effective Acoustic Area (SA)
4. Stage Area (S0)
5. Pit Area (Spit)
6. Total Area (ST)
7. Effective Acoustic Area / Number of seats (SA / N)
8. Early Decay Time / Volume x 106 (EDT/(Vx106))
9. Hall Length (L)
10. Hall Width (W) - Average
11. Hall High (H) – Average
Name m2 m
6
Concert Halls V/N V/ST SA S0 Spit ST SA/N EDT/(Vx10 ) W L H
-10
Aula Magna 8,8 13,2 880* 180* - 1060* 0,6 1,34 44,5 35 9*
CCB 11,2 14,2 538 180 77 940 0,4 1,37-10 28,1 27 17,6
-10
CAE 9,3 7,9 481* 180 56 717 0,7 2,02 24 31,2 10
-10
Casa da Música 10,8 16,1 653 180 - 833 0,5 1,23 21,9 40,6 15,1
-10
CNEMA 6,48 10 606* 169 - 775* 0,5 2,00 36 36 6*
Oporto Coliseum 6,47 14 628* 180 87 896 0,3 1,95 -10 20,4 30,8 20*
Recreios Coliseum 13,7 27,6 695* 180 62 937* 0,4 9,73 -10 34,7 31 24
Culturgest 7,13 8,26 371 151 40 562 0,6 1,80 -10 24,8 22,5 8,3
Europarque 9 12,7 822* 162 20 1004* 0,6 1,41 -10 39 34 9,6*
Gulbenkian 6,3 9,7 607* 180 54 841* 0,5 1,65 -10 23,8 31,4 11
Olga Cadaval 8,6 14,4 314 180 50 600 0,3 1,09 -10 18,7 31,9 7,3
-10
Vila Flor Cultural Centre 5,4 6,3 415 180 91 686 0,5 2,67 18,7 31,9 7,3

Name m2 m
XVIIIth Century Theatres V/N V/ST SA S0 Spit ST SA/N EDT/(Vx106) W L H
São João National Theatre 4,3 7,7 120 180 36 337 0,2 4,59 -10 11,2 17,4 13,3
S. Carlos National Theatre 6,2 7,3 230* 180 85 495* 0,4 3,22 -10 15,3 16,2 15
Name m2 M
XIX th Century Theatres V/N V/ST SA S0 Spit ST SA/N EDT/(Vx106) W L H
D. Maria II National Theatre 4,25 6,5 180 180 30 390 0,3 4,28 -10 13,7 18,4 10,1
-10
Garcia Resende Theatre 3,15 6,5 98* 143 - 241* 0,2 5,23 12,4* 10,6* 12*
Sá de Miranda Municipal Theatre 4,5 7,4 107 138 - 245 0,3 7,42 -10 10,4 14,6 12
São Luiz Municipal Theatre 4,9 10,9 140* 160 30 330* 0,2 3,27-10 11,6 15,9 19,6
Viriato Theatre 5,4 6,6 107 83 15 206 0,4 5,81 -10 10,2 15 8,9
Trindade Theatre 3,7 7,6 147* 96* 45* 288* 0,2 3,18 -10 16* 14,4* 9,6*
Name m2 m
XX th Century Theatres V/N V/ST SA S0 Spit ST SA/N EDT/(Vx106) W L H
Aveirense Theatre 5,1 13,2 136 100 25 260 0,2 3,11 -10 15 18,3 12,5
-10
Bragança Municipal Theatre 8,1 6,1 282 180 72 534 0,7 2,49 18,5 23,4 7,6
Camões Theatre 7 8,7 482 180 56 718 0,5 1,75 -10 24,4 28,9 8,9
Carlos Alberto Theatre 7,3 7,4 183 116 35 334 0,5 4,63 -10 15,2 20,5 8
Faro Municipal Theatre 7,5 9 398 180 87 665 0,5 2,47 -10 25 24,4 9,8
-10
Gil Vicente Academic Theatre 4,1 8,2 200* 141 45 386* 0,3 3,17 21,6* 18,4* 8*
-10
Guarda Municipal Theatre 9,6 12,2 320 120 56 496 0,5 1,52 20 24 12,7
-10
Helena Sá e Costa Theatre 7,8 9,8 106 72 21 200 0,4 5,42 13,6 15,7 9,2
Maria Matos Municipal Theatre 4,2 6,4 234 116 24 374 0,4 4,42 -10 16,6 19,4 7,5
Politeama Theatre 4,6 8,2 280* 138 20 438* 0,4 2,61-10 20 15 12*
-10
Rivoli Municipal Theatre 5,3 9,4 274 180 39 493 0,3 2,26 16,4 25,6 11
-10
Vila Real Municipal Theatre 10,6 10,4 336 144 33 513 0,7 2,63 22 22 11*

According to Beranek [ 5 ], it is desirable to have a simpler equation than Sabine´s,
in the preliminary design of a hall. “A possible simplification is to assume that the
total room absorption is attributable to tha audience and restrict the calculation to
the midle frequencies (500Hz to 1000Hz), in order to eliminate the air absorption
term and to avoid the greater irregularities found in sound absorption at low
frequencies”.
The simplification leads to:
RTmid = 0,161V/[ST(αT + (SRαR/ST))] = K1 * (V/ST)
So that:
K1 = 0,161 /[αT + (SRαR/ST)]
According to the same author, K1 “is not highly accurate because the accuracy of
the reverberation data, mostly from a few stop-chords at a limited number of seats,
is unknown, and perhaps more important the halls have different audience
absorptions owing to the type of seats, and (SRαR/ST) varies from one hall to
another”.
Thus:
K1 = RT/( V/ ST )
To preent the results of the 32 measured halls, a division were made between
Concert halls, XVIIIth, XIXth and XXth Century Theatres.

AM Aula Magna
CCB CCB
CAE CAE
CM Casa da Música
CNE CNEMA
Concert Halls OC Oporto Coliseum
RC Recreios Coliseum
CG Culturgest
EP Europarque
GBK Gulbenkian
OC Olga Cadaval
VF Vila Flor Cultural Centre
XVIIIth Century TNSJ São João National Theater

Theatres TNSC S. Carlos National Theater
TNDM D. Maria II National Theater

TGR Garcia Resende Theater
TSM Sá de Miranda Municipal Theater
XIXth Cenury Theatres TSL São Luiz Municipal Theater
TV Viriato Theater
TT Trindade Theater
TA Aveirense Theater
TMB Bragança Municipal Theater
TC Camões Theater
TeCA Carlos Alberto Theater
XXth Century Theatres TMF Faro Municipal Theater
TAGV Gil Vicente Academic Theater
TMG Guarda Municipal Theater
HSC Helena Sá e Costa Theater
TMM Maria Matos Municipal Theater
TP Politeama Theater
TMR Rivoli Municipal Theater
TMVR Vila Real Municipal Theater

Plot of the midle-frequency Reverberation Time, RT, hall unnocupied, vs V/ ST ,
where V is the Volume and ST is the acoustical area (see Terminology and
Definitions).
For Concert halls:
K(1) Concert Halls
2,5
RT (Unnocupied)
2,0
1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0 10,0 20,0 30,0
V/ST
RT(mid)/(V/ST) = K1
0,3
Coefficient K(1)
0,2
0,2
0,1
0,1
0,0
AM CCB CAE CM CNE OC RC CG EP GBK OC VF
Concert Halls

For XVIIth and XIXth Century Theatres:
K(1) of XVIIIth and XIXth Century Theatres
2,5
2,0
1,5
RT
1,0
0,5
0,0
0,0 2,0 4,0 6,0 8,0 10,0 12,0
V/ST
RT(mid)/(V/ST)
0,2
Coefficient K(1)
0,2
0,1
0,1
0,0
TNSJ TNSC TNDM TGR TSM TSL TV TT
XVIIIth and XIXth Century Theatres

And for XXth Century Theatres:
K(1) of XXth Century Theatres
2,00
RT (Unnocupied)
1,50
1,00
0,50
0,00
4,0 6,0 8,0 10,0 12,0 14,0
V/ST
RT(mid)/(V/ST)
0,3
0,2
Coefficient K(1)
0,2
0,1
0,1
0,0
TA TMB TC TeCA TMF TAGV TMG HSC TMM TP TMR TMVR
XX th Century Theatres

Bibliography
[1] ALLEN, W., “The Gulbenkian Great Hall, Lisbon, I: Acostic Design”, Jornal of
Sound and Vibration 59(4), pag. 469-479, Acadenic Press, London, 1978.
[2] ARAU, H., “ABC de la Acústica Arquitectónica”, CEAC, Barcelona, 1999.
[3] BARRON, M., “Auditorium Acoustics and Architectural Design”, London, y & FN
Spon, 1993.
[4] BARRON, M., “The Gulbenkian Great Hall, Lisbon, II: An acostic study of a
concert hall with variable stage”, Jornal of Sound and Vibration 59(4), pag. 481-
502, Acadenic Press, London, 1978.
[5] BERANEK, L., “Concert and Opera Halls: How they sound”, Nova York,
Acoustical Society of America, 1996
[6] BERANEK, L., “Music, acoustics & architecture”, Nova York, Wiley, 1962;
[7] BROOKS, C., “Architectural Acoustics”, Ed. McFarland, USA, 2003
[8] CARVALHO, A., “ Acústica Ambiental e de Edifícios”, Apuntos de la Disciplina
de AAE del Departamento de Ingenieria Civil de la FEUP, Porto, 2004.
[9] CARVALHO, A., “Influence of architectural features and styles on varios
acoustical measures in churches”, Ph.D.Dissertação, Universidade da Flórida,
EUA. 1994.
[10] CARRIÒN, A., “Diseño acústico de espacios arquitectónicos”, EdicionsUPC,
Barcelona, 2003.
[11] EVEREST, F., “Master Handbook of Acoustics”, 4th Edition, McGrawHill,
2001.

[12] GLEN, M., “Handbook for Sound Engineers – The new audio encyclopedia”,
Boston, Focal Press
[13] HENRIQUE, Luís., “Acústica Musical”, 1ª edição, Fundación Caloste
Gulbenkian, Lisboa, 2003
[14] HENRIQUE, Luís., “Instrunentos Musicais”, 3ª edição, Fundación Caloste
Gulbenkian, Lisboa, 1999;
[15] CRUZ, Ivo D., “Teatros de Portugal”, Edições INAPA, Lisboa
[16] KNUDSEN, V., “Architectural Acoustics”, Scientific American, 1963
[17] MEYER, E., NEUNANN, E., “Physical and apllied acoustics: An Introduction”,
Nova York, Acadenic Press.
[18] MORFEY, J., “”Dictionary of Acoustics”, San Diego, Acadenic Press, 2001.
[19] PATRICIO, J., “Acústica de Edifícios”, 2ªEdición, Lisboa, 2004.
[20] QUIVY, R., “Manual de Investigação en Ciências Sociais”, Lisboa, Gradiva,
1998
[21] ROSSING, T.D., “The science of sound”, Addison-Wesley, reading,
Massachussets.

Terminology and Definitions
N = Number of seats in the hall (usually wheelchair is not included)

V = Volume of the hall in cubic feet (cubic meters).
In concert halls, V includes the volume of air in the main hall and in the
orchestra enclosure. If there is a stagehouse, the volume V does not include that
volume, that lies outside the Orchestra enclosure and the volume occupied by the
solid balcony structures.. In Operas houses, V includes the volume of air contained
in the house forward of the main curtain. It does not include the volume of air in the
stagehouse or the
SA = Acoustical Audience Area. It includes the sum of the area of floor
space over which the audience chairs are located and the area of strips (0,5m)
wide around the separated blocks of the seating area, except that such strips are
neither included at the front edge of a balcony where the audience is seated
against a balcony rail nor where the seats abut a wall.
S0 = Area of stage. When the stage área exceeds 180 m2, S0 is limited to
that value. This numerical is deemed the acoustical area of a 100 piece orchestra.
No side strips are added.
Spit = área of the open surface of the pit.
ST = SA+ Spit +S0
H = Average room height, measured from main floor to ceilling in that part
of the main-floor not covered by balconies. Is needed to determine the time delay
of the first ceiling reflection.
W = Average width, measured between side walls in the audience área on
the main floor, disregarding any balcony overhang. The W is an indication of the
“intimacy” of the hall.
L = Average room length, measured from the stage front to the average of
the back wall position at all levels. This length is a general indication of the
magnitude of the fall-off loudnes with distance from the stage. The maximum fall-
off is determinated by D. It is not intended that H*W*L should be the exact cubic
volume of the auditorium.

Apendix
Acoustic Equipment for measurements
All measures in this work where made with he following equipment:
¾ Sonometer Bruel & Kjaer 2260

¾ Dodecaedrical Sound Source DO 12 – AWS
¾ Microphone GRAS
¾ RAD Inter M 700 Amplification (two channels)
¾ Laptop Asus
¾ Software WinMLS 2004
¾ Microphone Pre-amplification Opus 01 dB:
• 200 volts microphone polarization signal

• Linear Ponderation
• 10 Hz Low Cut Filter
• Gain + 20 dB
Measurements Method – MLS
MLS is an abbreviation for Maximum Length Sequence. It is basically a pseudo-

random sequence of pulses. Nowadays Maximum Length Sequence
measurements are quite standard in many different application fields. One of
them is acoustics. The maximum length sequence (MLS) technique is
established in various acoustic measurements for fast and accurate broadband
determination of acoustic quantities. This technique uses a self-generated
periodic, pseudo-random noise signal, which is cross-correlated with the
measured signal to give the impulse response, and hence transfer function, of
the monitor.

The MLS signal sounds a bit like, and has similar energy content properties to,
white noise. Using MLS techniques, it is possible to perform quasi-anechoic
measurements of a loudspeaker without having to place it inside an anechoic
chamber (a room free from echoes and reverberations). The impulse response
can be easily windowed in the time domain, in order to analyze the signal and
reject the reflections from the walls of the room. Moreover the room impulse
response itself (and all the related parameters such as reverberation time) can be
measured. The MLS method can also be used to analyse and obtain information
about the impedance or the absorption coefficient of a surface. The MLS
technique has many advantages when compared with other methods of
measuring the response of a system. Among them the following:
• The MLS has a quasi-flat power spectrum. The spectrum envelope follows a
square(sin(x)/x) law and falls by about 1.6 dB at 1/3 of the sampling rate.
• MLS technique rejects the DC component of the sampled signal.
• MLS measurements have a very high Signal/Noise ratio.
The cross-correlation used to compute the impulse response reduces all
background noise (uncorrelated with MLS), so that measurements can be
performed also in noisy environments. The use of averaging techniques can
furhter increase the S/N ratio.
• The measured distortion of the system is spread throughout the computed
impulse response. Every MLS sequence has his own characteristic
distorsion pattern: more measurements on the same system with different
MLS sequences (of the same order) allow an easy recognition of the
distortions.

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Engineer & Arquitecture La Salle

Arquitectural and Environmental Acoustics Master

Music and Acoustics

Coordenation (Spain): Higini Arau

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 1

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 2

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 3

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 4

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 5

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 6

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 7

Architectural acoustics refers to the study and design of sound transmission in

Sound is a sequence of waves of pressure which propagates through compressible

1. A relationship between density and pressure. This relationship, affected by

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 8

¾ Reflection: If a sound is not absorbed or transmitted when it strikes a

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 9

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 10

1.1.Quality Subjective Acoustics Factors

In recent years a commom language of acoustics has developed out of the

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 11

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 12

1.2. Quality Objective Acoustics Factors

Reverberation Time (RT60)

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 13

Arau TR60 Equation:

Eyring Norris TR60 Equation:

FitzRoy TR60 Equation:

S   0.162V   S y   0.162V   S z   0.162V 

a x = − ln(1 − a x ); a y = − ln(1 − a y ); a z = − ln(1 − a z )

Kutruff TR60 Equation:

Early Decay Time EDT (sec)

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 15

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 16

Centre Time (Tc)

Bass Ratio, Bass Strength – BR

T125 Hz + T250 Hz TLOW (T125 Hz + T250 Hz ) 2

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 17

T2 KHz + T4 KHz THIGH (T2 KHz + T4 KHz ) 2

The Measurement of STI is defined by the standard IEC 60268-16.

STI = −0,1845 ln(% ALcons ) + 0,9482

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 18

Interaural Cross Correlation Coefficient IACC

Initial Time Delay Gap ITDG (msec)

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 19

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 20

Carvalho achieve, in his work about Portuguese Church Acoustics, an equation

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 21

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 22

In this case there is no amphi-theatre audience shape (β=0)

In this case there is no amphi-theatre audience shape with a proportion of (β=0,16)

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 23

The Merit Factor (MF) for Reverberation Time - RTmid – is:

0 to RTmid ≤ 0,9 RTopt – 0,5

RTmid - Measured or Calculated value

The MF for Bass Ratio – BR – parameter is:

The MF for Brightness – Br – is:

Portuguese Theatres and Concert Halls Acoustics 24

And for Theatre:

The MF for Definition - D50:

Absorption grows in all frequencies from unnocupied to occupied chairs.