Amare The Hague

A concert hall beyond the usual

The concert hall in Amare is the first large-scale project in the Netherlands where sprayed GRC has been used. Generally, GRC is used for exterior facade cladding, however in this case, GRC is used for the interior acoustic panels and balcony elements. The high demands for aesthetics and acoustics were decisive in choosing GRC for this prestigious concert hall.

JCAU Architects & Urbanists are the architects behind the intricate design and made sure to factor in all the crucial technical requirements. The international Studio DAP specialises in concert hall acoustics and are responsible for ensuring that Amare is state of the art.

An aesthetics & acoustic experience

Concrete may not be your first thought when thinking of pleasant acoustics. However, GRC was precisely chosen because of the material’s limited mass and virtually unlimited formability. The many different element variants all contribute to an excellent acoustic experience for guests and performers.

The acoustic panels have carefully designed kinked shapes. The faceted surfaces ensure an optimal spread in the reflection of sound frequencies. They also create a spatial three-dimensional experience. These origami-like elements alternate with niches of flat GRC elements. With gold-coloured and perforated sliding panels in these niches, the sound absorption in the room can be adapted to the music style, from intimate to electronically amplified. The curves of the balcony edge elements are also important for the acoustic and visual experience. Typically, GRC elements are as thin as 12 mm, however, to achieve optimal acoustics the thickness of these elements has been increased to between 15 mm and 25 mm. Behind the elements are a layer of 100 mm thick insulation material.

BB fiberbeton manufactured over 1.000 GRC elements in 50 variants, corresponding to around 3.000 m2 GRC. All GRC elements are executed in its natural white colour with a light matt surface. The elements are mounted with embedded brackets. On this project, we worked closely with Hi-Con Netherland who supplied the GRC elements manufactured by BB fiberbeton.

Dutch Concrete Awards 2021

The concert hall Amare won in the category Utility and the use of GRC for the internal cladding was an significant factor. 

The jury's motivation was "The jury appreciates this application of [glassfibre reinforced] concrete, which makes optimal use of the freedom of shape in concrete, the high aesthetic quality, the low mass and the long lifespan. All this to achieve the most important in the design of a concert hall: good acoustics."

The project was also nominated in the Category Groundbreaking Construction (for innovations in concrete constructions).