The Royal Opera House is intended to be a state-of-the-art operatic and concert venue for up to 1,000 visitors. The image of the building draws on traditional Omani features from famous grand villas and forts to give a statuesque structure sympathetic to the grand style of modern Omani public buildings. It uses traditional forms of colonnades, terraces and sculptural tower forms and is finished in locally-sourced light coloured stone and complementary stucco.
Fire safety at international standards
COWI fire engineers assisted the designers WATG Architects in developing a fire safety strategy based on international design standards while ensuring local compliance and approvals.
A performance based approach using computational fire simulations and egress analysis was used to demonstrate that fire and smoke from a fire in stage tower did not spread to auditorium.
The eight hectare site in the centre of Muscat is being developed as the start of a new urban quarter with landscaped park, cultural market, museums, retail shops and a village square.
