Since its official opening in December 2004, the Sage Gateshead has become a landmark on Tyneside and an inspirational home for music. As principal engineering consultant, Connell Mott MacDonald has been responsible for civil, structural and building services design of this £70 million iconic brownfield development project, which is making a major contribution to the regeneration of the River Tyne frontage.

Connell Mott MacDonald worked closely with architects Foster and Partners to create this innovative building, which features a scheme of three halls with excellent sound reinforcement and recording systems, as well as performance lighting, and a 25-room music education centre running beneath, all enclosed in a single space by a stainless steel shell.

A concert hall requires an extraordinary degree of engineering complexity and coordination and Connell Mott MacDonald took great care to ensure that all aspects of the design were in keeping with the high quality demands of the project. Extensive use was made of a highly sculptured reinforced concrete frame in providing sound insulation and attenuation. Building services were integrated discretely throughout and ensure that light and air are supplied in precisely the right quantity and location to provide the optimum conditions for performers and audience alike.

Hidden underneath the architectural roof shell is a complex interface between the concrete shells of the three halls and roof steelwork. In Hall 1, under the roof trusses hang six suspended ceiling baffles at 20m by 6m across. These heavy timber constructions with skeletal steel frames weigh 15 tonnes each and can be raised and lowered to alter the internal acoustic architecture.

Sustainability was a key element in Connell Mott MacDonald’s design, which features aspects that have contributed to an estimated annual operating energy consumption 40 percent lower than current best practice.

Among the energy reducing features of the Sage Gateshead are minimal comfort cooling and air conditioning by use of building thermal mass, natural ventilation and solar shading. Other sustainable design features include heat recovery on all major ventilation plants, a high degree of thermal insulation and low energy lighting.

Connell Mott MacDonald ‘s lead designer Paul Bates said: “We are very proud to have been part of the Sage Gateshead consultancy team and delighted that it has received this prestigious award for excellence. It’s also very timely, coinciding as it does, with the Royal Opening!”

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