Since the concert hall opened changes to the air conditioning, roofing material, restaurant areas and artist's facilities have been successfully completed to retain user comfort and operational efficiency.
In 2008 the decision was made to replace the audience seats in response to changing guidelines on public amenity and ongoing commitment to user comfort. Marshall Day Acoustics was engaged to provide advice on the replacement seats to ensure that the acoustical character of the Hall was not compromised.
Our work started with benchmark measurements to document the room acoustic properties of the Hall, then assessing the absorption of the original seats. This step was accomplished using the facilities at The University of Auckland, also designed by Sir Harold Marshall. Advice was provided to the City of Perth, the architect and the successful tenderer for the seat manufacture, to produce a chair that would be compatible with the original acoustics while incorporating the required structural changes. Room acoustics measurements were repeated in the Hall following installation of the new seats to objectively verify the success of the project.