Cobar’s Sound Chapel is gaining fame all around the world ahead of its official open-ing in April.
Renowned composer Georges Lentz brought in world-famous architect Glenn Murcutt to work on the unique project which turned an old rusted water tank into an amazing acoustic and astronomical space.
Also working on the project was Peter Thew, Senior Engineer in Residence in the Charles Sturt School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering.
Mr Thew said he was honoured and excited to be asked to work on this once-in-a-lifetime project.
“When I was approached to be involved in the project, I knew opportunities like this did not arise every day,” Mr Thew said.
“The concept was highly intriguing as the design is unusual and the structural forms are unique.
“But as an engineer, I took it back to first principles, which is what we do when faced with an unusual task that we haven’t seen be-fore.”
The project transformed the old water tank into a work of art.
“The artist’s vision was to have 24/7 sur-round sound beaming from the four speakers in the walls and as the engineer, it was my job to make it work from a construction perspective,” he said.
The Cobar Sound Chapel is an installation of an approximately five-metre cube within the 10-metre-high tank in which classical music will play 24 hours a day, seven days a week on loop via a quadraphonic sound system.
The construction phase has taken about three years to complete and the finished product is already receiving international acclaim.
Mr Thew said he was proud to put Charles Sturt engineering on the map with such a pres-tigious project.
“Charles Sturt University is the only regional university to offer engineering throughout New South Wales,” he said.
“Our program is unique in that students work on real projects from the very beginning, ap-plying what they learn in the real world as they go.
“The Cobar Sound Chapel will cement Cobar as a place where very high-level classical mu-sic will be performed and homed.
“This project will continue to inspire Charles Sturt students in every way.”
He said he was pleased to have been part of the creation of “a world-class facility”.
