Stadtcasino Basel

Project Description

The Stadtcasino in Basel (1876) is one of the best concert halls in the world and is internationally renowned for its outstanding room acoustics.

The concert hall was completely renovated, including the addition of an extension, between 2016 and 2020. One of the client’s most important objectives was to significantly improve the concert hall’s indoor air quality. Up until the renovation, the hall hadn’t been mechanically ventilated.

Our input

Installing a full air conditioning system with fresh air for almost 1500 people in this historically significant and highly acoustically sensitive hall was challenging for both us ventilation and air conditioning engineers as well as the architects. Nothing inside the building could be changed, and there was no space in the existing building for technology this size.

Key features

The combination of a new basement and the utilisation of the attic space proved to be the best solution.  This allows the conditioned and cooled air supply to be blown in via a pressurised floor below the seats and the extracted via a large skylight. Throughout the planning and implementation stages, the project was overseen by acoustic experts and all solutions were laboratory tested.

The effort paid off: the hall still has some of the best room acoustics in the world, and now it has equally outstanding air quality.

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