Design of a Concert Hall, Denmark

Max Baagoe Rasmussen, MSc, Civ. Eng., NIRAS, Copenhagen, Denmark; Mikkel Bramsen, MSc, Civ. Eng., NIRAS,Aarhus,
Denmark; Henrik Schiichter Andersen, MSc, Civ. Eng., NIRAS, Copenhagen, Denmark. Contact: mib@niras.dk
DOI I0.27 49/10168661 1X12910257 1027 58

Abstract
This paper describes the process of
designing a concert complex: from
the architectural visions of a flying
concrete meteor to the static calcula-
tions that made it happen. Because
of differential settlements from the
non-uniform underground conditions,
hydraulic jacks have been introduced
so that upward and downward adjust-
ments are possible for the concert
hall. Furthermore, the whole building
is covered by a complex two-sYstem
cable facade, where each cable sYs-
tem affects the other. Finally, dynamic
investigations have been conducted
for the huge balcony structures.
Keywords: concert hall; cable facade;
hydraulic jacks; post tensioning; con-
crete structure. Fig. l: Concert hall

Introduction
In 2009, the new Danish Concert Hall
won the IABSE Denmark's Struc-
ture's Award 2009,the European Steel
Design Award (ECCS) and many
other awards. From the beginning of
the project, it was questioned whether
it was possible to construct a flying
concert hall supported by slender col-
umns. Over the course of the project,
the architectural and acoustic solutions
have been uncompromising and have
challenged engineering calculations.
The building is situated in Copenha-
gen and is in fact an unPrecedented
spectacular building (Fig. 1)'

Architectural Visions
The concert hall is one of four seg-
ments, called DRTown (Danish Radio)
(Fig.2) All segments were designed as
an overall plan, but separate architec-
tural competitions were held for each
segment. The four segments are con-
nected by an inner street. The idea
for the project arose from the Middle
E,astern Kasbah, which is a mix of
covered squares, markets, streets and
shops, where each neighbourhood has
its own special character.
In much the same way, the buildings
in DR Town have their own identitY
Fig. 2: DR Town
and function. The whole town is char-
acterised by transparency, light and
openness. The purpose was to create a
climate where media production of the
future and creativity are united in an
inspiring environment.
The architectural idea with the concert
hall is that, in an area where the sur-
roundings are very neutral and where
a neighbouring environment has not
yet been created, the highest value that
can be created is the opposite-some-
thing spectacular. This, together with
inspiration from the Danish national
author Peter H@egh's "Smillas's Sense
of Snow", where a meteor has landed
in glacial ice in Greenland, inspired the
architect to cover the whole building
in a semi-transparent blue projection
screen. Behind this screen the "flying
meteor" is partially visible.
Description
The meteor is the main concert hall
in the whole concert complex. It can
accommodate an audience of uP to
1800 people (Fig.3).The meteor looks

Structural Engineering International U20LI Technical Report l0'7

 Fig. 4: The meteor covereti with the shell cladding'View from the
Fig. 3: Inside the concert hall
foyer

like it is flying 30 m above the ground,
mainly resting on three slender stair-
cases. The main concert hall itself is
designed with a verY comPlex geom-
etrv based on acoustic requirements'
ThL load-bearing structure is like a
walnut shell surrounding the hall and
defining its acoustics and architec-
ture. The structure consists of a steel
struclure covered by concrete. work-
ing as a composite structure, but also
r"iu"s as the acoustic barrier against
the surroundings. To make this con-
crele sphere look like a meteor' the
surfaces are covered with a thin
glass-fibre-reinforced concrete shell
cladding. The large open foyer area
is located right under the PrimarY
concert hall (Frg. 4). In the basement
there are three smaller concert halls/
studios. Everything is covered by the
blue screen, which is supported by an
almost invisible vierendeel steel frame
structure.
of the staircase section in terrain. The
bottom of the concert hall is designed
as a large post-tensioned concrete slab,
which ipart from functioning as the
floor of the concert hall also ensures
the horizontal stability of the staircases
(Fig 6).
The post-tensioned concrete slab is a 2
m high caisson slab supporting the stage
and inner seating areas. It spans 34 m
across the foyer connecting staircase 1
to staircase 3. The slab is constructed
as a caisson slab to reduce weight. The
structure consists of 300 mm thick top
and bottom plates, and interior walls of
300 to 500 mm thickness everY 5 m'
Main oost-tension cables are inte-
srated lnto the entire 48 m through
both staircases and the slab struc-
ture. Two cables are located in each
wall (each tensioned to 3,4 MN). The
cables partly suPPort the slab bY a
curve height of 1,5 m, and also enable
tension forces to be transferred from
the leaning staircase 1 to the stiffer
and verticil staircase 3. Staircase 1
would not be stable without this sup-
oort. In addition to this, the bottom
olare ol the caisson slab structure is
bost-tensioned by horizontal cables
(tensioned to 2,5 MN), on average Per
every 800 mm, to obtain the neces-
sary strength and stiffness of the slab'
The stiffness of the staircases does not
influence the cable forces.
The remaining Part of the bottom of
the concert hall is made of large geo-
metrically challenging steel structures'
which are suPPorted bY the concert
hall shell structure. The concrete plat-
form is spray-moulded on trapezoidal
sheets thit are supported by the steel,
after which the structures function as a
composite structure.

Concert Hall
The concert hall itself is conslructed
as a concrete shell, "the meteor"' This
huse concrete shell measures 65 x 68 m
utrd is 34 m high. Its perimeter consists
of lining walls that are up to 18 m high
and 20b mm thick. Below the lining
walls a perimeter ring duct is located-
which, bisides working as torsion-stiff
supporting structure for the lining
wilis, also works as a ventilation duct'
The concert hall almost floats in the air
and is only supported by three stair-
cases and six imall columns (Fig' 5)'
As an example of the uncompromising
architecture, one of the staircase tow-
ers is designed to be tilted, such that
the reaction from the concert hall is
located far from the centre of gravity Fig. 5: Plan view

Structural Engineering International U2017

108 Technical RePort

Fig. 6; Cross section
Balcony s Hat-sectron
Fig.7: Balconies and lining walls
The top of the concert hall is covered
with a concrete slab, which is suP-
ported by 12 individual steel trusses
with a maximum length of 47 m and a
height of 3,2 m to match. The girders
are supported along the walls on steel
columns. Steel was chosen to minimise
the weight of the whole roof structure
and as a frame on which the concrete
roof and walls could be cast. The steel
truss structure also allows free pas-
sage in the large technical area that
is located between the ceiling and the
roof.
Between the columns, pre-fabricated
concrete panels are erected with
protruding bows, and the joints are
grouted (Fig. 7). Shear dowels are
welded to the steel columns, such that
the connections to the concrete work
as a composite structure.
The steel columns have different func-
tions. They have to span between the
perimeter ring duct and the roof, and
resist the wind forces; work as a frame-
work for the concrete column that is cast
in the steel-section; and furthermore.
allow connection of the concrete lining
wall elements. The solution was to use
Structural Engineering International
Perimeter ring duct
Fig.8: Framework
a "hat-section" that fulfils the require-
ments. Because of varying heights and
varying loads, the dimension of the hat-
section also varies (Fig. B)
Wind load is the dominating horizon-
tal load. Seismic loads in Denmark are
very low due to weak and rare seismic
activity in the area, and is calculated as
7
3.,
Kir
Fig. 9: Horizontal stress distribution of the top of concert hall
u20ll
a static load on 1,5o/" of gravity in any
horizontal direction. Due to the high
mass of the raised concert hall. seismic
loads are considered. which are the
design load for some supporting struc-
tures and directions.
The roof is concrete cast as shotcrete
on corrugated steel plates, which are
placed between the purlins.
This huge concert hall is not self-sup-
porting before the roof is cast, and
works as a shell construction (Fig.9):
hence temporary supports are placed
below the perimeter ring duct in the
construction phase.
Below the concert hall are located
studios 2, 3 and 4, to accommodate
540,7'70 and 240 persons, respectively
(Fig.10).T\ese studios are designed as
a "box-in-box" solution, which means
that a steel box has been built in a
room limited by concrete walls. This
solution was chosen because of the
acoustics.
Hydraulic Jacks
Apart from the three staircases below
the floating concert hall, there are six
column supports to the north. These
columns are again supported by post-
tensioned high concrete beams that
lead the forces past the 24 m wide
studio 2.
This highly statically indeterminate
structure is sensitive to creep, shrink-
age and differential settlements of the
foundation. The non-uniform under-
ground conditions cause differential
settlements and with this a possibly
critical redistribution of the load, par-
ticularly regarding the columns.
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Technical Report 109
 with 88 brown fibre-reinforced con-
crete shells. All the shells are at differ-
ent angles and varying distances from
the concrete surface. The shells are sup-
ported by a secondary steel frame' This
iecondary frame is erected directly on a
variety of different primary steel frames,
of which the largest is 30 mz. The con-
nections between the primary lrames
and the concrete walls are achieved by
High bean a geometric complex support system'

_lL ___

litI Facade
lll,".li--,*i.
The facade has multiPle PurPoses.
To enable the outside viewer to see
Fig. 10: Longitudinal sectnn
the flying meteor through the facade,
the siruCture has to be as light and
transparent as possible. To cover the
The column reactions are glven m wholi complexiit took 15 000 m2 of
Fig. 12. The intentional column reac- this semi-transparent blue screen'
tions are the dead load plus half of the At night, the blue screen.works as a
Iive load. In the operational period, it is proiection screen, and pro1ectors posl-
'tion"O
ensured that the maximal design loads on the neighbouring buildings
are not exceeded. Column C6 has the and in sPecial towers Project both
same intentional and design load.There- moving and still images onto the blue
fore this column is critical as regards s.te"tt. Itt this way, the exterior of the
overloading, and it should be ensured concert hall is able to change character
that the load value is never exceeded. according to the event inside. Besides
Aftei the temPorarY supports are this, all foyer areas are to have large
removed, an inspection of the pressure glass facades.
in the iacks is carried out. Then the jacks To l-ulfil these requirements. a steel
are locked. During the construction frame surrounds the concert hall' The
period, until the commissioning of the structure consists of an external and
Fig. 11: Hydraulic jack
ioncert hall, all the jacks gradually an internal facade with an inter-space
increased the load until the intentional of approximatelY 2 m. On the exter-
column reactions were oblained (Fig. /3). nal facade the blue screen is attached,
In order to take this unwanted extra and on the internal facade the glass is
The pressures in thejacks were checked
load into account, hydraulic jacks are attached.
every month during the first year after
olaced between columns and the con-
commission. During the next year the
fert hall in the six supports to the north
insoections were reduced to every sec-
(Fig. 11) to ensure that the columns are The Facade Steel Cage
ond month. This was continued everY
not being overloaded.
6 months, and after 6 years when there
The main structure of the facade con-
The hydraulic jacks make it possible will be no more creep in the concrete
sists of an optimised steel cage, which
to adjust the column tops by up to +75 structures, the inspection will end.
is 50 m high,100 m long and 60 m wide
mm with a caPacitY of uP to 800 t Per
The hydraulic jacks function as fixed and consists of SHS260-Profiles'
column, thereby controlling the exact
mechanical supports during the peri-
force in each column. As requested by the architect, all are
ods between adjustments.
box se-ctions, which have been welded
The permanent deformations from together, with very few exceptions' It is
creep, shrinkage and differential set- a iequirement that all facade profiles
tlements are taken into account by Shells are placed either vertically or h.ori-
adjustments of the jacks in the first zont;ily, for which reason the stability
6yearsoftheoperationalperiodofTomaketheconcerthalllooklikea
sphere is covered is handled solely by vierendeel effect
the structure. meteor, the concrete
with the stress concentration in the
column beam junctions'
It was the architect's requirement that
Column C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
the steel structures were to appear
Dead load 4t26 1147 2374 3412 4217 1000 with no other finish but Paint' The
1 000
Intentional load 4450 1860 2490 3600 4350 welded seams in the welded sections
DL+0,5xLL and joints therefore seem unground
1000
Desisn load 59'76 2805 3191 4532 s609
8000 2000
with a resulting rough aPPearance,
8000
Jack capacitY 8000 8000 8000 together with the characteristic con-
crete surlaces.
Fig. 12: Column reactions

Structural Engineering International U20ll.

110 Technical RePort
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Fig. 13: Inspection of pressure in jacks
Fig. 14: Internal facade with pre-tensioned
rods
The columns in the facade are stabi-
lised with a beam every 15 m. In order
to give the structure lightness, stiffen-
ing with diagonals has not been carried
out. Naturally, the result is that all beam
column joints are made moment-stiff
as a welded solution. Due to the fact
that columns with a length of 15 m in
this structure are sensitive to stability
problems, the columns are further sta-
bilised with pre-tensioned rods every 5
m. Each rod is tensioned to a force of
50 to 250 kN depending on its position
in the structve (Fig.14).
The columns are placed with a spacing
of 9,8 m in the internal facade and 4,8
m in the external facade.
Between the facade and the concert
hall, another steel structure supports
the glass roof above the foyer. The
joints towards the concert hall are
designed as acoustic damped bearings
and have a natural frequencv lower
than 10 Hz.
Glass Facade
In all of the foyer areas, the internal
facade are mounted with glass pan-
els in a diagonal grid of 1,7 x 7,1 m.
Again, in order to give lightness to the
structure, the glass panels are mounted
directly onto a diagonal cable net,
Structural Engineering International U2011
Fig. 15: Glass facade
where the cables lean at an angle of
45" (Fig.15). This glass/cable structure
resists the wind forces on the glass as a
membrane effect-like the strings in a
tennis racquet. The mounting and pre-
tension of 150 kN of the cable system
take place only after the mounting of
the horizontal pre-tensioned rods, the
result of which is that the force in the
pre-tensioned rods changes.
To determine the interaction and ten-
sion procedure for the stabilising ten-
sion rods and the cable grid for the
glazed facade, which are both supported
by the same steel structure, a variety of
complex step-by-step calculations have
been accomplished (Fig. 16).
The large tension coming from the
cable grid at its perimeter is supported
by the bending in the large beams.
Fig. 16: Facade steel. (a) Glass roof steel. (b) Horiz.ontalpre-tensioned rods. (c) Cable net
in foyer areas
Dynamics
All five southern balconies in the
concert hall are large steel structures
with a special geometry. Theoretical
dynamic modal analysis was carried
out for the platform steel and a lowest
eigenfrequen cy of 4,3 Hz was found for
Furthermore, an independent check
was undertaken of peak accelerations
and dynamic impact on the structure.
If a peak acceleration limit of 15%
of gravity was decided upon, and a
fundamental frequency >3,4 Hz with
relative damping of 0,06 was recom-
mended, <3,0}{2 would be very critical.
The structure was analysed for rhyth-
mic crowd loading, simulating persons
jumping in a time history study, and
maximal accelerations below L5"/o of
gravity were found. It is important to
calculate the exact eigenfrequency and
damping for the structure because the
acceleration is sensitive to these val-
ues. Therefore, subsequently frequency
measurements were carried out by a
to ensure the integrity
full-scale test
and comfort of the structure under
rhythmic load. The test included a
huge mass that hung from the platform
steel. The mass was released and the
platform started to vibrate (Fig. U).
Eigenfrequency of 5,2 Hz and relative
damping of at least 0,04 were measured
in this test. This result satisfied the
requirement of eigenfrequency >3,4
Hz. A time history analysis showed
that the acceleration was 13% of grav-
ity for the high eigenfrequency of 5,2
Hz and a relative damping of 0,04. It
is, of course, still difficult to say exactly
what the true eigenfrequency for the
structure is, because at the time when
the full-scale test was made the struc-
ture was not completely cast together,
so the mass and stiffness were still sub-
ject to change. It is also well known
that damping increases in a room with
people, compared with room without
people.The true dynamic impact on the
structure can therefore actually only
be realized by a full-scale test during
Technical Report 111
Fig. 17: Fttll-scale dynamic test of balconies
Fig.20: Casting of walls
a concert with the true mass, stiffness
and damping. This has not been done,
but the above investigations and analy-
sis showed that the eigenfrequency is
definitely larger than 3,4 Hz and the
damping is at least 0,04. Hence, the
vibrations turned out to be a non-issue.
The slender walkways, stairs and esca-
Fig. 18: Perimeter ring lators are suspended in the foyer area.
In order to meet the architect's high
requirements for slenderness of the up
to 2J m long spans, these steel struc-
tures were prepared with openings for
Fig. 19: Erecting sequence Fig.21: Construction of lacade
I12 Technicai Report Structural Engineering International U20L1,
tuned mass dampers (TMD). After
the complex dynamic interaction was
monitored during actual use, some of
the longest stairs in the foyer areas
were prepared to be installed with up
to three 500 kg tuned mass dampers.
Erection
The sequence for the concert hall
started by erecting the three stair-
cases and columns. Then the perimeter
ring duct was cast all the way around
(Fig. 18) simultaneously with the large
 concrete slab between the staircases.
Steel columns and roof trusses were
erected on top of the perimeter ring
and the concert hall was cast (Figs. 19
and 20). At the same time, the steel
for the platform structures had to be
hoisted into the hall and hung on the
perimeter ring.Then the walls
ind rool'
were cast, and after completing most
of the roof and the structure was found
stable, all the temporary supports were
removed. Construction of the facades
then commenced (Fig. 21).
Conclusion
It was indeed a challenge to design the
concert hall. Use of finite element pro-
grams and computers in general were
a crucial factor. The planning of how
all structures would work together in
this huge concert complex was a com-
plicated job. Every single corner of this
building was considered and discussed.
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Structural Engineering International 1lZ0lI
and high strength concrete, steel and
cables were mainly used everywhere. SEI Data Block
The very slender facade construction Owner:
was designed to handle large deforma- Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR)
tions. and the interaction between the
different facade systems made it neces- Architectttral des ign:
Ateliers Jean Nouvel
sary to solve complex non-linear stabil-
ity effects in many different load cases. Structural design:
The interaction in the facade is in fact NIRAS A/S
exceptional. From the very beginning,
Acoustical design:
the main target for all structures in the Nagata Acoustics
concert hall was to meet the require-
ments of the architectural design and Main contractor:
the acouslics. These requiremenls M.T. H@jgaard
made it necessary to arrive at complex Cable facade contractor:
concrete and steel solutions and chal_ Waagner Biro
lenged the static, dynamic and fabrica-
tion tasks. Steel (t): 3500
Concrete (m3): 18 000
Overall, it was a pioneer project that Post tension cables (m): 2200
increased the expectations for what is Reinforcement steel (t): 3600
possible to build in future and heloed
Total cost (EUR million): 220
to place Copenhagen on the archiiec-
tural and structural world map. Service date: January 2009
TABSH brings you together...
..tell you r colleague.
Technical Report 113