Concert Hall, Pannonhalma

Architect: Robert Gutowski
Text: Edit Pálinkás
Photos: Tamás Bujnovszky

As of May, 2016 the Abbey of Pannonhalma was enriched with a concert hall suited to house conferences, music programmes, minor theatre and movie performances, as well as school celebrations thanks to the architectural and acoustic features of this gap-filling development taking place within the framework of St Martin’s Year. The need for a multifunctional hall with a larger capacity had been phrased a long time ago: following the inauguration of the new basketball hall of the Benedictine secondary grammar school in 2014 the former gym hall proved a convenient scene. It is a natural follow-up of the main entrance to the complex of the abbey but also has its own well-separated entrance. Designing of the hall had to focus on a priority, namely the facilitation of high-standards acoustics. The substantial height of the interior could be realized by deepening the former gym hall. The volume of the hall as well as its shape and proportions predominantly define the optimal values of post-vibrations. The evenly distribution of sound energy is facilitated by the whispering gallery of lanes of beechwood, the optimization of the diffusor and the sound-absorbing surfaces, the broken design of the lateral walls bordering space with built-in membrane surfaces, the layered structuring of the stage and the individually designed 268 seats of the stalls. Another 60 seats are found around the stage in the upper circle and by temporarily transforming the stage into a central space the hall is extended so as to house even school celebrations with as many as 400 participants.

Leading architect: Robert Gutowski – GUTOWSKI Építész Kft.
Architects: Barnabás Dely-Steindl, Hunor László Kovács, Gáspár Bollók
Fellow architects: Péter Rabb, Csongor Mizser, Domonkos Ujfalussy
Acoustics: Éva Borsiné Arató, Gergely Borsi – Arató Akusztikai Kft.
Structure: Sándor Horváth, Gergely Tombi
Statics: Dr. Miklós Armuth, Dr. Dezső Hegyi, Benedek Kiss, Kata Gász
Soil mechanics: Balázs Móczár
HVAC: László Lakner
Mechanical room acoustics: János Pintér
Electrical engineering: Dóra Kolb
Fire protection: Ferenc Mikus
Smoke simulation: Richárd Balogh
Woodworks: Pápai Asztalos Kft., József Kovács, Norbert Takács
Audio-visual system: Géza Balogh, Ákos Martinec, Mátyás Péter – Interton Group
Shading technology: Miklós Gosztonyi – Krüllung Kft.
Technical supervisor: Albert Gerzsenyi
Main contractor: János Knáb, József Knáb, Ferenc Katona, András Horváth, Gábor Miklós, Sümegh István – Merkbau Kft.
Client: Pannonhalma Abbey, Dr. Asztrik Várszegi abbot, Titusz Hardi headmaster
Project managers: László Rábai, Olga Szalai, Sándor Beck (Pannonhalma Abbey), István Barcza, Kristóf Pálffy-Józsa (Benedictine High School)