Leisure & CultureRoyal Albert Hall Auditorium Cooling

Comfort and Wellbeing - 150 years ago, theatre shows would be dimly lit by candlelight and stagehands would move all equipment required for the performance. Today performers are illuminated by hundreds of powerful lights and equipment can be swapped round by powerful motors. Undeniably this has all led to a far better show for the patrons. But, with combined equipment and body heat, this ‘cool’ building can get stuffy quickly, leaving the patrons feeling hot and bothered.

This Grade 1 listed performance hall has previously experienced over-heating that has comes at the expense of the thermal comfort of the patrons. On hot days, when the 1,500 seats of the Rausing Circle Level are occupied, the combined external ambient heat with the emitted body and equipment heat the temperatures in the auditorium have reached as high as 33°C. This is 8°C above CIBSE Environmental Design Guide's recommendation for the auditoria.

To combat this, Loop Engineering have designed a retrofit displacement ventilation cooling system capable of delivering 260kW of cooled air to the seated area of the Rausing Circle and nearly 50kW of cooled air to Gallery viewing areas. Much to the delight of the patrons, performers, and show operatives after 150 years, the upper areas of the Auditorium now experience temperatures between 24-25°C as recommended by the CIBSE Environmental Design Guide.