An Auditorium with new sustainable seats
Dismantling work on the seats of the Symphony Hall of the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, last Thursday. /
The Alfredo Kraus renews all the seats of the Symphony and Chamber Hall, for which 100% recycled fabrics from plastic bottles are used
The
Symphony and Chamber Halls of the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium They will look renewed for the premiere of the new season in the middle of next September. Last Monday began with the renovation of some seats that had
in use 25 years.
This process, which has started in the stalls of the Symphony Hall and will go up to the second amphitheater before undertaking the Chamber Hall, must be completed
at the latest on September 18ensures
Tilman Kuttenkeulergeneral director of the Auditorium Theater Foundation of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
For this change, not only economic and acoustic issues have been taken into account, but also
The sustainability. On the one hand,
40% of the entire original structure is used. The base that fixes it to the ground and the armrests are in good condition, as well as the black plastic structure that goes under each seat for acoustics and where the number of each seat is identified.
Some details
Yes, the seats are completely changed. «We have opted for a fabric for the seats that is recyclable.
The threads of the fabric come 100% from plastic bottles», advances Kuttenkeuler.
The level of deterioration in some was very evident, after 25 years of use. /
Work has been done, he also assures, so that they comply with current regulations, are fireproof and the new material does not affect the acoustics of the Auditorium. They will have a slightly darker color, but they have the approval of
Oscar Tusquets, architect who designed the enclosure.
“We have chosen to change them because most
They were very deteriorated. Keep in mind that they have had a lot of use during these 25 years. Not only the concerts, but also the congresses and activities of all kinds such as fringes. It must be recognized that
from the beginning he was right with the choice of material for the seats, since it is not usual that in an enclosure of these characteristics and that is used almost every day they have endured all this time. It has also influenced
good maintenance that they have been given over all these years, but especially in daytime activities, such as in congresses, their level of deterioration was very evident", admits Tilman Kuttenkeuller.
Postponed due to the pandemic
This change of seats was scheduled for the summer of 2020, but it had to be postponed first due to the covid-19 pandemic and then until the chosen factory ensured that it had all the necessary supplies and that it would be able to deliver them on time and form. The company that builds the new seats is
BD Barcelonawho has been working in the sector since 1972.
Dismantling of the seats, last Thursday. /
The commitment to respect for the environment also concerns the old materials that have been removed from each seat. “We take it to the company
FDS Canarias SL, which is in charge of separating the materials and their recycling”, points out the German manager.
During the change process, the Auditorium is never left without seats, since while on the one hand
the old ones are being dismantled, on the other the new ones are being installed.
The first of the three containers that will arrive in the coming weeks with the seats are already in the facilities of the Las Canteras promenade, and a team of specialized professionals has traveled to the island for disassembly and assembly.
In total, some
2,000 seats and the
cost amounts to one million eurossays Tilman Kuttenkeuler.
learning from the pandemic
The capacity limitations and the distances between musicians that health protocols have required in the hardest months of the covid-19 pandemic have generated learning that is now applied in this reform.
«To keep the distance between the musicians, in many phases of the season the first four rows of the stalls have been removed to gain space. Therefore, now in
those first four rows and in the last row of the stalls the anchors are changed to facilitate these modifications when necessary. The structure will anchor the seats four by four to the ground, which will facilitate this task”, underlines the general director of the Fundación Auditorio Teatro.
