London Performing Arts Centre – Ontario Canada

London Performing Arts Centre (LPAC), the organization dedicated to acquiring a top quality performance hall for London, engaged Arts Resources International (ARI) to perform the first phase of a major feasibility study in June of 2003.   

At the time, ARI was a division of Artec Consultants Inc. of New York, one of the most respected firms in the world in the area of theatre planning and acoustics, and a leader in feasibility studies.  Many Canadian halls have benefited from Artec’s excellent work, including Kitchener’s Centre in the Square, the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, the Toronto Centre for the Arts, Edmonton’s Winspear Centre, and the Chan Centre in Vancouver.  Artec recently completed the acclaimed acoustic enhancements to Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. 

The experience of Artec and ARI in countless cities around the world will provide unique credibility in assessing our community’s need for a professional performance space.  The London study reviewed existing local research studies, test the capabilities of current facilities, assess all aspects of local performance activity and projected future activity, and perform a gap analysis indicating where current facilities fail to meet the needs of the community.  Finally, the study took a look at potential locations and create preliminary design sketches. 

Following their research, the consultant team made recommendations on whether to build or not to build new performance facilities in London.  Based on Artec’s socio-economic research and geographic opportunities, the team recommended that the London Performing Arts Centre Board proceed with a development action plan. 

The study recommended an acoustically appropriate Concert Hall for non amplified sound with 1,600-1,800 seats (complete with a fly tower, ample wing and backstage space to accommodate a fully functioning concert theatre) as well as a second Rehearsal/Recital space that would have a flat floor, accommodate 500 - 600 seats or telescopic seating (that can fold into the walls when not needed).  In this community this second space could accommodate smaller scale concerts and theatrical productions.

Planning and Design