Located in the heart of Hanoi’s historic district, the Ho Guom Opera House was conceived as a new cultural landmark for Vietnam. The client’s ambition was to create a venue capable of hosting operas, orchestras, film premieres, and amplified concerts, all with world-class sound quality.
This vision required an environment that could adapt to very different acoustic needs. A hybrid approach was therefore developed, combining the benefits of natural early reflections with the flexibility and power of an enhanced audio system such as Constellation, allowing the hall to accommodate a wide variety of performances. Finding the right balance between both worlds became the project’s central challenge.
We also had to achieve extremely low background noise in a dense urban area, ensuring perfect silence on stage and in the audience hall. From the earliest design stages, we developed solutions to control mechanical noise, vibration, and sound transmission between rooms.
For us, this project was not only about achieving technical precision but about creating a place where every sound and silence has meaning, a hall that listens as much as it speaks.
Our work began in the concept phase and continued through design and execution. Led by Project Director Antoine Pommier, we collaborated closely with HTT Architects, Schuler Shook, TAIT, and Meyer Sound to translate the artistic vision into measurable acoustic performance.
We developed a hybrid acoustic system, combining natural reflections with electroacoustic enhancement through Meyer Sound’s Constellation system. Using Odeon 3D modelling and ray-tracing simulations, we predicted how every surface and volume would shape sound energy. These studies guided the geometry of the ceiling and wall panels, choice of materials, and integration of absorption zones, ensuring clear and balanced sound across all seats.
We also designed the noise and vibration control strategy, including a box-in-box structure for the black box theatre, high-performance partitions, and mechanical isolation with calibrated steel springs and acoustic pads. The entire duct network was analysed to integrate silencers and traps that preserved airflow while reducing noise.
Additionally, we supported Wenger Corporation in developing a custom orchestra shell, enabling musicians to immerse themselves naturally across various performance configurations.
The completed hall offers an adjustable reverberation time ranging from 0.8 seconds (for conferences and amplified events) to 2.1 seconds (for symphonic performances). Shorter reverberation times maintain speech clarity and intelligibility, while longer ones allow orchestral sound to bloom and fill the space, making the venue suitable for every type of performance.
The noise-control design ensures an exceptionally quiet environment, allowing audiences to perceive even the subtlest musical details, the power of pauses and silences that give music its emotional depth.
Since opening in 2023, the Opera House has hosted performances by the Sun Symphony Orchestra (Vietnam) and the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan), confirming its reputation as one of Vietnam’s most acoustically refined venues.
Through this project, we helped shape a space where architecture and acoustics exist in perfect dialogue, a hall that truly embodies our belief that every note has a place, and every silence its meaning.
