The Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House, as you see it today, opened on 4 December 1999. Its reconstruction actually began on site in 1996 with the last performance in the 'old' house in July 1997. In three years the most inadequate of the great opera houses of the world was transformed, not only for audiences, but equally for performers and the hundreds of people who work there.

Clark Door Limited was involved from the early stages of the Opera House redevelopment and worked on the design concepts with the architects, acoustic consultants and closely with the client to ensure that their requirements to provide the highest levels of performance could be met.

Pioneering Designs

The development work involved pioneering acoustic designs fully tested in a UKAS approved laboratory. This work resulted in new patents being granted for the sealing systems developed by Clark Door.

Acoustic & Fire Resistant Door

Amongst the other doors provided on the project by Clark Door Limited was a large acoustic and fire resistant door on the rear of the Lindbury Studio Theatre and an access door to the ‘Get-in Lift’ that had to be  finished in a cladding system to match the external face of the building. The ‘Get-in Lift’ allows articulated vehicles to fully reverse into the building and to move between floors with their loads.

As the audience enjoys a performance the rehearsal for the following act continues and, thanks to the sound reducing qualities of the Clark Door, nothing can be heard from either the rehearsal or performance theatre.

Door A

16m wide x 11m high. Site tested at 50dB attenuation. Fire resistance of 60 minutes. Door A, weighing 35 tonnes, provides the sound insulation in-between the stage and the main opera rehearsal room, ORR1.

Door D

10m x 11m - 60 minute fire resistance. This door provides a critical barrier to fire. The set build area is an area that sees a multitude of skills employed to build some of the fantastic sets that are on view during a Royal Opera House performance. This combination of working space and public space requires careful consideration of the potential risks that exist. Hence, our Loss Prevention Certification Board certificated Fireman door was chosen to provide this protection.

Door G and Door H

These doors in combination with an acoustic lobby were on site tested to achieve an attenuation of 67dB.  An exceptionally high performance was required for this opening as the second opera rehearsal room opens directly onto a set build area.  The doors were designed with different attenuation levels to prevent any ‘acoustic holes’ from symmetric construction.