An introduction to auditorium

design.
This article on auditorium design 101 is meant to be a wide overview of the

various components that go into designing an auditorium. It discusses some

general design guidelines and a few details to help you have a better

understanding. We’ll cover auditorium lighting, stage design, fixed seating,

and auditorium acoustics.

That being said, our expertise is in fixed seating design for auditoriums,

lecture halls, etc., so we pulled in multiple experts who were gracious

enough to contribute their expertise, and share their knowledge with you. If

you need any more information on a specific area of expertise, we’ve

provided contact information for them at the beginning and end of each

section.

Whether you’re an architect or contractor tackling an auditorium design

project for the first time, or whether you’re a building manager who wants a

base understanding of the various components that make up an auditorium,

our hope is that this article can give you a good introduction to auditorium

design.
Auditorium Design 101
The success of any performance rests largely on the relationship of the

audience to the performance. We humans love to experience story-telling:

whether an intimate theatre piece, a booming cacophony of symphonic

music, or a great battle of sports teams on the field, we are hard-wired for

engaging with performance. When designing any venue, the intended types

of performance provide clues about the shape and size of the room, the

desired feeling of intimacy and collective engagement, and the overall

distribution of seats within the room as related to the performers on stage.

Performance Type
The Essential Question: What is the primary type of performance that

audiences will see here?

Every performance type has specific geometries that support not only the

staged performance, but also the audience’s experience. The first step to

designing an auditorium is to become clear about what kinds of

performances will happen, and what the audience’s experience of those

performances should be.

Theatre and Dance performances, for example, are usually most successful

in a room that provides a sense of intimacy and immediacy. With these

performance types, the audience is close and tight to the stage so they can

experience the immediacy of the performance. The overall physical volume

and acoustics of a drama room are controlled so that the room supports the

performance with little or no direct amplification. A dance theatre can use

amplified or live acoustic music, and may require more variable control of the

acoustical environment.

Conversely, live acoustical music performances are most successful in a

room that has volume and some reverberance, allowing music to reflect,

bounce, and fill the room. Audiences enjoy being close to this type of

performance as well, but it is less important to be close to the stage than it is

to have a high-quality aural experience from anywhere in the room.

For musical theatre, staged concerts, and opera, a combination of theatre

and live music performance criteria are considered with the balance between

immediacy and acoustic envelopment varying based on the art form.

An auditorium often supports more than one type of performance or might

need to serve an entirely new set of criteria as our definitions of performance

evolve. Indeed, as we look to contemporary practice, new definitions of

performance like “immersive” and “experiential” theatre are being

developed with greater frequency and for larger audiences. With this in mind
a multi-use venue that possesses the flexibility to support a variety of

performance types can be ideal. Solutions for a multi-use venue might

include flexible seating arrangements and stage configurations, variable

acoustics, or room divisions that alter the volume of the room for different

performance types.

Planning the Room

Once the performance type and general room function have been identified,

the process of conceptually developing the room can begin.

There are three basic components that must be considered for the room to

function properly: sightlines, acoustic requirements for room shaping and

isolation, and accessibility and egress. Sightlines ensure that every seat has

an unobstructed line of sight to the performance, studying the distance and

viewing angles from the most extreme seats both near and far. Again, the

performance type informs the criteria for sightlines. While it is critical to be

able to see a dancer’s feet at the very edge of the stage, the sightline

criteria of an orchestra hall can be less rigid. The geometry of the room

should be designed to naturally enhance the acoustics of the room, while

also taking variable and enhanced acoustic materials like reflectors and

applied wall materials into consideration. Lastly, code requirements for

egress and accessibility will determine the required aisle and path widths
throughout the assembly space, which will be based primarily on the

capacity of the auditorium.

For the purposes of this discussion, let’s use a proscenium theatre

arrangement as an example.

Considering Seat Distribution and Room Shape

Intimacy, the shared experience, and audience enjoyment are significantly

impacted by the relationship of seats not only to the stage, but also to each

other. Seat Distribution and Room Shape are concerned with the position and

arrangement of seats within the audience chamber.

In simple terms, Horizontal Seat Distribution studies the location of seats as

related to the stage in plan view. Seated rows are often curved or angled

toward the stage so that patrons are both facing forward in their seat and

looking directly at the stage. That is, they should not have to shift sideways

or turn their heads to watch the performance. This direct-view orientation

allows for the audience to be “in conversation” with the performance,

making it easier to achieve suspension of disbelief and invest themselves in

the performance.

The size and location of sections or groups of seats will have a subtler but

equally impactful influence on the audience experience. Generally, the

greater the physical distance from the stage, the greater potential for
psychological distance from a performance. However, the shape of aisles

among seated sections and the delineation of “lower” (closer to stage) and

“upper” (further from stage) areas with cross-aisles and egress paths can

help a room feel inclusive, intimate, and connected not only to the

performance, but also to other audience members within a section of seats.

With this goal in mind an actual physical and perceived psychological

distance from the stage can be mitigated by enhancing the perceived

collective experience of a particular section of seating.

When it comes to auditorium design, there are an infinite number of ways to

develop the shape of an auditorium. It’s important to keep these ideas about

seat distribution and room shaping in mind to help guide design decisions as

the nuts and bolts requirements like row depth, aisle widths, sightlines, and

acoustic shapes and materials become clear.

Developing the Plan: Horizontal Sightlines

Horizontal sightlines are a product of the extreme seats to the left and right

of the auditorium. As a rule of thumb, these seats should maintain a three-

quarters view of the stage at the back wall of the stage house. Any seats

beyond this 3/4 range of view will have a considerably diminished

experience. Box seating at the sides of the auditorium, a popular way to

create a “VIP experience” but the most sightline challenged, can be carefully

studied and designed to accommodate this view as well.

Developing the Section: Vertical Sightlines

Vertical Sightlines require the examination of line of sight in section view

from every seated row of the auditorium to common targets at the stage

edge and the proscenium opening. Generally, a room should be designed for

no less than an every-other-row sightline; that is, the eyes of the patrons in

one row should have an unobstructed view to the stage over the head of the

patrons seated two rows in front of them. (The obstruction of the row directly

in front is resolved through the seating layout using variable chair widths to

create a staggered seating pattern.) In this way, the slope of an orchestra

level floor or the height of risers in parterres, boxes, and balconies can be

determined. It’s important to note that this results in a parabolic sloping floor

at an orchestra level, not a single line slope as with accessible ramps.

Similarly, this process yields a variable run of risers at parterres and

balconies. Though the variation in floor elevations may seem insignificant,

these “slight” dimensional shifts can make a significant cumulative

difference of inches and feet by the last row of the auditorium.

When studying the sightlines for parterre and balcony levels, the geometric

requirements dictated by sightlines must be understood alongside the

steepness of the risers. Balcony risers that are too steep, or rows that are not
sufficiently enveloped by adjacent rows can feel dangerous, exposed, and

unsettling to patrons. The addition of railings within rows can solve the

security and safety issue, but it can also psychologically distance patrons

from the performance.

It’s important to note that the sightline and room-shaping process is about

balancing the complex symbiotic relationships among the many variables

that influence the room. It is both a quantitative and a qualitative study to

meet all the requirements of code and ensure the best live experience for

the audience.

Confirming the Vision

As the room begins to take shape, it’s important to periodically check back in

with the original intent. With the many factors that can influence the design

of a performance venue such as budget, project timeline, and environmental

factors (to name a few), it’s important to make sure that the room still does

what it needs to do. Throughout each phase of the design process, the

integrity of the seating layouts and sightlines must be rechecked and

confirmed. By safeguarding the most fundamental aspect of the live

performance – the audience experience – good design can ensure that a

performance will continue to live far beyond the walls of the auditorium.
The Goal and Approach
An auditorium lighting design needs to provide two fundamental

components. The first part is the illumination needs of the public who work in

and enjoy the space. The more difficult part is to convey the intended feeling

and emotion that fits the program and the attitude of the space. A successful

design elicits an emotional human connection to the space, and lighting

plays a crucial role in accomplishing this goal.

Comparing a project’s budget and material resources with the project

characteristics is also a great method of achieving the goal. Characteristics

in this instance being such components as ceiling construction, timeframe,

wiring infrastructure, maintenance schedules, personnel and budget. If a

venue is to be successful, the design and build team must be realistic with

regard to budgets, timescales, and materials. A low budget does not

necessarily mean a poor design as a clever design can maximize resources,

but as with most things, it is the detail work that makes the difference.

Aesthetics
Architectural Coordination

When considering auditorium design, good lighting design is always in step

with a venue’s interior design. They are symbiotic. New build venues have

the luxury of developing these designs in synchrony. However, that doesn’t

mean that retrofits and refurbishments are at a disadvantage; necessity

breeds creativity. There is usually a good surface or detail that is worth

highlighting. Fundamental concepts in architectural accent lighting like

shadow gaps, bounce lighting and grazing are great tools to consider. These

can almost always be enhanced by using color changing fixtures.

Opportunities for these lighting tools can be limited in refurbishment projects

due to wiring considerations, but new technology such as LED line voltage

dimming is helping solve these problems. A good lighting consultant or

contractor will always understand the architectural goal of a venue and work

to complement it using the latest tools available.

Lighting Quality: Beam Control, Color Rendering,

Dimming and Power
The lighting scheme of a space needs to incorporate fixtures which will

provide suitable color rendering (most commonly measured in CRI: color

rendering index). In areas which are meant to be used for reading (of

playbills for example) an index number of 90 or greater should be

considered.

Flexibility and control of the light beam should be a consideration so that the

fixture layout can be tailored to the details of the architectural design.

Fixtures which have on-site adjustable beam sizes and attachments help with

glare and are a great solution when tailoring a design.

When the performance or presentation starts, dimming of the houselights

can focus the audience and help make the experience feel special. In recent

years, research and development into LED dimming has provided the

industry with top quality dimming that was not available 3-4 years ago.

“Theatrical quality dimming” is a phrase that gets written a lot in the lighting

industry, but unfortunately, there is no robust index or comparable measure

to gauge this in a specification. A demonstration of a few fixtures in

consideration will always be beneficial to a project. Seeing is believing.

The quality of light chosen should be with due regard to the human and

broadcast requirements of a space. For example, low speed flickering of a

light source (common with low quality LED and discharge sources) can

greatly impact the quality of the light not only for people in the space, but

equally as important, for camera. Even modern HD cameras are much more

sensitive to flicker and phasing than the human eye. The results of poor

power supplies can render an auditorium completely unfit for broadcast and

video camera use.

Requirements
Code compliance

Integrating minimum illumination standards and an emergency lighting

scheme is necessary and should be an integrated component of the design.

It’s possible to have a single fixture provide all these requirements if good
coordination exists between the architectural lighting designer and the rest

of the team. Standards vary between locales so getting a consultant or

contractor who understands these requirements is crucial. It is worth noting

though that sometimes a totally separate system is more preferable. This

can often be the case with refurbishments and retro-fits as the emergency

lighting may be adequate and not intrusive to the design.

Maintenance

The selection of lighting fixtures should be chosen with a realistic

maintenance schedule in mind. Access to the fixtures can be difficult if they

are placed in hard to reach areas. As safety standards increase, some venues

are finding that older lighting schemes are no longer safe to maintain.

Reasonable placement and access should be integrated into the design

process along with the selection of long-life sources.

The Components
Downlight and General Illumination

Downlight for general illumination is not only necessary for public safety,

wayfinding and reading, it serves a crucial role in creating excitement and

eliciting emotion. Top quality dimming control is fundamental to achieve this

effect through even fades. High resolution dimming using DMX control and

good quality electronics in lighting fixtures can achieve this as they almost
eliminate the “steps” that can be seen in lower quality power supplies and

alternative signal protocols.

Accent Lighting

Getting a quality, even illumination in the main areas of a venue is a priority,

but so too is accent lighting. Depending on the goal and resources available,

this component of a lighting scheme can vary greatly. And even on a shoe-

string budget, a few nice touches can go a long way to make an auditorium

more inviting. For example, flood uplighters in a venue with an

architecturally interesting ceiling will make the venue infinitely more inviting,

and dimmable units can be used during performances.

Control and Systems Integration

Flexibility is the key when designing the control system. Normally, a venue

will have a programmable lighting control console to operate the

performance lighting, and then a separate architectural control system.

Typically, it is best for the performance lighting system to control the

auditorium lighting as it needs to be controlled in a comparable way to

ensure the smooth transition from “pre-show” to performance. This system

needs to be both powerful (to operate performance lighting in an effective

way) and flexible (to enable a “lights on” state for a janitor or director to

operate).
Complications can arise when the venue lighting is expected to be controlled

from both systems. The integration of the two systems can be complex, both

in terms of programing and physical wiring. However, a competent lighting

consultant or contractor should be able to help with simplifying the design

and instructing the build process.

In Conclusion
The old adage, “you get what you pay for” is true for auditorium lighting, but

equally important is the preparation and design work that goes into a great

lighting design. Choosing the right fixtures and enlisting the help of

professionals will always pay for itself many times over, and with the right

planning and equipment, an auditorium lighting scheme can last for decades.

Stage Design Basics

The following is useful to consider for your auditorium design:

Delivery access, wide internal passage ways/ doorways and storage space

are the most critical auditorium features that contribute to running a smooth

installation and daily operation. Having outside delivery access for trucks

speeds up the loading and unloading process, features like a truck height

dock and adequate parking lot space for large delivery trucks are helpful.

Wide internal passageways and doorways allow equipment to be moved

quickly and efficiently in a space, especially with rolling carts. Lastly, having
adequate storage space is helpful to organize and readily access unused

equipment, contributing to increased speed when swapping between stage

or seating configurations.

The beauty of portable staging is that it can be manipulated and is a

versatile enough product that it can work well in any auditorium design. The

critical part is creating enough storage space for the equipment. Often

facility managers love the product but are frustrated when they realize they

do not have a space for it when the system is not in the play position.

Considerations for the Project Coordinator

A project coordinator must always consider the spatial constraints of the

auditorium and how the end-user will be using the product on a day-to-day

basis. Platforms are robust products since they are designed with safety in

mind first and foremost, but are often used in tight or confined spaces. This

can make setup and tear down physically demanding. The project

coordinator can help these procedures and the end-user, by changing the

system based on his or her understanding of the entire environment the

system is setup in.

Building Code Basics & Detail Considerations

Stages and risers are engineering and designed to building codes. Chapter

16 of International Building Code 2015 sets forth the structural design

criteria. Some of the topics covered for stages and risers are floor live load,

deflection, serviceability, and strength. Stage floors are subject to a

minimum uniformly distributed live load of 150 pounds per square foot.

Risers need to be engineered using a minimum of 100 pounds per square

foot of uniformly distributed live load.

 The finishes of the platforms and guardrail must meet the aesthetics of the

space. Think through the details of the design of guardrails, the platform

surfaces and closure panel materials.

 The acoustics of the space should be considered. Platforms can be designed

with acoustical damping materials to minimize footfall noise.

 Storage of the space should be considered. A full service staging equipment

company can help determine the proper storage options for your space, such

as carts to facilitate easy portability, doorway widths in your space and

amount of space needed for portable platforms when they are not in use.

 Equipment set up instructions and training for staff on how the risers are

assembled should be incorporated into your plan.

If you are mounting fixed seating onto platforms, you should coordinate this

between the seating provider and the platform provider to ensure that fixed

seating attachments are incorporated into the platform design. Portable

chairs are easier to manage, but you may want to consider chair stops into

the seating riser system.

Aisle lighting and power sources are important to consider into the design of

the seating riser system. Seating risers that are flexible and can be used in

multiple configurations can make your space more usable, but also require

extra planning up front, so staging platforms and equipment can be reused

for various set ups and efficiently deployed.

Fixed Seating Considerations.

If you’re looking for extensive information on seating layouts, example

layouts you can download, and tons more, we highly read this article on

auditorium seating layouts recommend you . It’s been very popular and

gives a ton of detail, diving deep into fixed seating basics. Here, we’re going

to give you just a summary of that information, so read on.

Seating Basics
There’s two basic types of seating arrangements you can consider for your

auditorium: “multiple-aisle” or“continental.” Generally speaking, a

continental agreement will allow more seating in your space. Click hereto

view more details and to see images. For early stage planning, you can

use an average of 7.5 sq ft. per person.

When it comes to seating widths, the most common chair widths are 20

inches, 21 inches, and 22 inches. That being said, available seat widths can

range anywhere from 18 inches to 24 inches. You’ll also want to consider

the row spacing. An average minimum dimension might be 30″, but if you

space the rows at 36″ (for example) the audience’s comfort level will

increase dramatically.

We would definitely advise you to take a look at various safety and building

codes such as:

 Life Safety Code 101 – National Fire Prevention Agency

 BOCA (Building Officials and Code)

 Administrators – Basic Building Code

 Southern Standard Building Code

 Uniform Building Code

 Or governing State and Local building codes

 And more…

Finally, you’ll want to make sure you perform a sightline analysis to ensure

that the audience members can see everything they want to (and are

supposed to) see.

For free layouts, diagrams,
and much more detail…
Be sure to read our full article on seating layouts and seat spacing. We took a

whole article to better lay out each of these principals and give better

visuals.

Auditorium Acoustics 101

A huge part of the audience’s experience in your auditorium design will be

the acoustics. The ideal acoustic environment in an auditorium is one where

the visual and auditory experiences are both captivating, intimate, and

efficient. The auditory experience is uniquely shaped by the acoustics of

each room. This brief overview of natural acoustics is aimed at giving

designers some basic fundamentals on how the room acoustics of a space

are effected by design choices that an architect would make. We will start off

with a brief description of how our ear works in the context of listening.

How the ear works.

The human ear has developed over the evolution of humans into an organ

capable of receiving the short term fluctuations of air pressure around us and

extracting vast amounts of information from them. These short term air

pressure fluctuations are commonly called sound waves. Through the use of

two ears at a known horizontal distance apart, our brains figure out

remarkably detailed information about sounds that we hear such as speech

and musical content, source location, sound characteristics, relative loudness

etc. When in an auditorium, sound arrives at the listener both directly from

the sound source, and through reflections from the ceiling, walls, and the

floor, and their combinations.

When listening in an auditorium, our brains try to make sense of the

cacophony of sound waves arriving at the ears. Here, it is useful to think of

the concept of the flicker fusion threshold. This concept is very familiar to

anyone who has seen a movie or an animation: If still images are shown to

the eye at a very slow rate, the brain can distinguish each image as a still

image. But as the rate of images being shown increases to the rate of flicker

fusion threshold, the brain is then able to fuse the images together, and

perceive movement, much like Eadweard Muybridge’s early The Horse in

Motion clip in 1878 demonstrated.

Similarly, when the ear is presented with reflections of a sound that

arrive much later than the direct sound, the brain interprets those as echoes,

and is able to separate them from the original sound. This is often observed

during old recordings of outdoor speeches where there is a strong but very

late reflection/echo, or sometimes during telephone conversations where

there is an echo. If the arrival of the reflected sound gets closer to the direct

sound, it can sometimes be even worse: the reflected sound arriving from

one consonant in the speech seems to interfere directly with the following
consonant in a word, making the whole speech sound ‘blurry’ and

unintelligible. Once the reflections arrive soon enough after the direct sound

to pass the threshold of 50 milliseconds, the brain is then able to fuse the

reflected energy with the direct sound and use it to enhance the intelligibility

of the speech being heard.

Acoustic design principals.

The main driver behind acoustic design in auditoriums comes down to the

phenomenon above: Strive to keep and enhance ‘early’ reflections to arrive

at the listener no more than 50 milliseconds after the direct sound; and

dampen and reduce ‘late’ reflections that would arrive at the listener more

than 50ms after the direct sound. At a given listener location, if there is more

early acoustic energy than late, speech will be intelligible. To that end,

surfaces should be provided and shaped to provide such early reflections,

and reflection paths that provide late acoustic energy should be made

acoustically absorptive.

This leads to certain rules of thumb:

1. Shoebox-shaped rooms provide for strong early lateral reflections (even more

important for music, but quite helpful for speech as well)

2. Reflections down from a ceiling can often provide early reflections, and

therefore should be made acoustically hard (reflective)

 3. The back walls of an auditorium have a risk of providing late reflections –

both to the audience and to the stage: Providing acoustic absorption at such

locations is usually helpful. This could be in the form of fabric panels, slatted

wood finish, acoustic plaster or even acoustic drywall.

4. The audience seats and the audience themselves are usually the biggest

acoustic absorption in the room. The use of the right amount of acoustic

absorption in the seats can serve as a great way to achieve the acoustic goals

of the space.

There are, however, many other aspects of the auditorium acoustics that

would require analysis, and any space where the acoustics are critical should

be analysed in more detail for things like: the overall Reverberation time

(RT60), the Distinctness (D50), the Acoustic Strength (G) of the space, and

the background noise from building services or exterior activities. Getting an

acoustic consultant to evaluate these aspects and provide suitable solutions

that fit within the architectural expression is key to arriving at a cohesive

design outcome. The best spaces are the ones where the acoustic elements

fit seamlessly into the design and the space doesn’t scream out “Acoustician

was here”.