SSV completes projects worldwide
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SSV’s newly completed projects include one of several high-profile buildings for Hong Kong’s extensive West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), the Xiqu Centre.
As the first finished building in the new West Kowloon Cultural District, the Xiqu Centre serves as the gateway to the district and is, fittingly, dedicated to the performance of Chinese Opera (Xiqu) and the centre for preservation and development of the variety of Chinese Opera art forms. SSV was responsible for the acoustics and audio systems in all of the Centre’s spaces, including both natural and amplified performances in the 1073-seat Grand Theatre, and the 150-200-seat Tea House space for smaller-scale Xiqu performances.
SSV is also known for the care and attention given to heritage design and buildings. Its extensive experience with EU-wide tendering processes for theatre refurbishments was instrumental in it acquiring the theatre planning position for Teatru Manoel, Valetta’s crown jewel. As Europe’s oldest working theatre, the Manoel has been renovated and refurbished many times over its almost 300-year history, with SSV providing expert theatre planning consultation for its most recent adjustments to coincide with Valetta’s European City of Culture events and its famed International Baroque Festival.
SSV was brought on board by Spiritland to assist with the refurbishment and fit-out of its elegant new restaurant located within the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre. Described as a “dining room of sonic architecture”, Spiritland Royal Festival Hall tasked SSV with specifying and recommending finishes, materials, enhancements and corrections sympathetic with the company’s ethos and design. These included sound absorbing curtains and an array of ceiling-hung baffles, sound absorbing spray applied across the restaurant’s ceiling, perforated timber panelling, and ceiling tiles and wall panels incorporated in the kitchen.
Looking forward, one of SSV’s latest projects is a new Creative Centre - including a three-storey teaching block and 250-seat auditorium, linked by an atrium - at York St John University. The development’s aim is to help the university’s ambitious growth in art and design, computer science, performance and media production.
(Jim Evans)
