Christchurch's new modern cinema on display. 

When Hoyts Cinemas re-opened its doors to the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, with a three-level, seven-screen complex and dining hall, the occasion marked the return of the cinemas after the devastating 2011 earthquake destroyed their previous complex.

The $50 million project was designed by Ignite Architects and developed and constructed by Calder Stewart Developments. Ignite Architects partnered with Forman Building Systems (FBS), a specialist distributor in acoustic products, ceilings and interior wall systems, and exclusive distributors of Studco products in New Zealand.

Building earthquake-resilient buildings in Christchurch is always an intricate undertaking but throw in 13-meter-high walls and sensitive acoustic requirements, and you have a real challenge. Cinemas wall designs need to stop the transmission of noise and vibration between adjoining theatres whilst also blocking out unwanted noise and vibration from adjoining roads and buildings. However, consideration of the structural needs made this a particularly difficult task: firstly, the height of the walls meant they needed rigid bracing back to the base structure and secondly, it was essential to provide significantly increase strength in the walls to meet the required performance of the seismic design criteria. Both factors work against the acoustic needs of a sensitive space such as a cinema.

This challenge led to the development of a new range of sound isolation mounts designed, engineered, and manufactured by Studco: the Resilmount M481R and M482R wall brace. Acoustic tests were carried out at the University of Auckland jointly by Studco and FBS and were overseen by Marshall Day Acoustics. The tests validated that the new Resilmount assemblies performed as designed and exceeded the strict design criteria of the cinema.

Laszlo Totka, FBS Specification Manager said, “As this specific combination of engineering and acoustic requirements had not been previously built, it was important that we could actually prove that our solution would work. Therefore, FBS and Studco built a test wall and three rounds of independent testing were completed by the University of Auckland’s Acoustic Testing Service. This was then accepted by the developers as a tried and tested solution.”

Studco provided an innovative solution to a challenging project and completed a design that met the strict acoustic requirements of the cinema whilst complying with the seismic requirements of the region, all within a very short timeframe and in close collaboration with our regional partners, FBS, and various other independent stakeholders.

Following completion of construction, acoustic field tests were conducted to ensure the cinemas met the client’s acoustic requirements. The final design exceeded expectations, with the complex receiving the National Category Award 2019 and Gold Award 2019, at the New Zealand Commercial Project Awards.