plain laminated pads & load plates sliders vibration isolation         The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Canada’s first purpose-built opera house had its grand opening on June 14, 2006. Occupying an entire block of the financial and theater district in downtown Toronto, the facility with its 2,000 seat auditorium, is the new home of the Canadian Opera Company, and the performance venue for the National Ballet of Canada. A major challenge for the project’s downtown location was isolating the auditorium from vibration and noise from the adjacent subway system and surface streetcars. WIA developed a “building within a building” vibration isolation design that set the entire auditorium, stage, and rehearsal hall on rubber pads supported by concrete and steel. With four layers to each pad and steel plates separating each layer, the design was specifically engineered for both the building load and the live (building occupant) load, thereby structurally isolating the facility from ground-borne vibration. WIA worked closely with the architects and contractors during installation of the nearly 500 pads to ensure that the gaps between the isolated part of the building (the auditorium) and the other non-isolated parts of the building were maintained. Follow-up measurements confirmed that the vibration isolation design effectively mitigated the outside vibration and noise intrusion inside the auditorium to achieve background noise levels from exterior sources equivalent to the threshold of human hearing. –-Wilson Ihrig & Associates Acoustical and Vibration Consultants         © 2008 scougal Rubber corporation. all rights reserved.