The Acoustical Design of the New National Opera House of Greece

Scheduled to open in 2015 in the city of Athens the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center will become the new home for the Greek National Opera and Ballet. This paper presents the acoustical design considerations for the future opera theatre. A retrospective of Greek influence in the history of the opera theatre design is presented with benchmarking and precedents considered for the project. Through presentations of the some of the design thoughts and approaches still in development, including the form, geometry, seating distribution, wall shaping, and materials in the opera theatre, the paper describes how the new design references and incorporates the profound influence of Greek Culture on development of the Opera House as we know it today.