Personalised and extremely comfortable seats for a new religious centre in Brazil.
Brazil's largest religious temple is located in Rio de Janeiro, a colossal replica of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The 11-storey complex houses classrooms and accommodation for residents and visitors, among many other facilities.
The main hall can accommodate 10,000 worshippers. It is equipped with the elegant and comfortable Flame. Nearby, the Memorial Hall has 100 units of Microflex seating combined with the Mutasub system, which, by storing the seats under the floor, turns the hall into a multi-purpose space for hosting different types of events.
The challenge was evident from the initial proposal of fitting 10.000 seats into a temple with a surface area of 13.000 m², 126 m long and 104 m wide - measurements that are larger than a standard football pitch. The challenge did not only involve choosing and customising the seat so that its design was aesthetically compatible with the interior of the temple. Dividing up the space and distributing the 10.000 seats uniformly was also a Solomonic process.
In the nave, without a single column blocking the view of the altar, the red velvet seats give a faultless reflection of orderliness. The exact combination of the distances between axles and the widths of each one of the 10.000 seats enabled the creation of aligned, parallel aisles in all directions, some up to 78 m long.
Overall, the nave has been divided into 58 blocks of seating, with between 85 and 195 individual seats. With a 1% gradient and distance of 910 mm between rows, the rows of seats are organised into concentric radii, which start at a radius of 29 m and go up to 120 m.
The selected seat was the Flame model, although it underwent various modifications to ensure its aesthetic compatibility with the rest of the building. It is made from American oak, has arms which are 5 cm longer than usual, gold metallic structures and a document holder at the back. All seats meet strict safety standards and include a fire-proof barrier between upholstery and foam to prevent toxic gases in the event of accident. In addition, 1.000 seats include a simultaneous translation system.
Apart from the 10.000 seats in the main hall, Figueras installed a mobile seating system in the Memorial building. This space, dedicated to the bible story, has exhibition and lecture rooms equipped with the most up to date multimedia technology. There are 100 Figueras Mutasub system seats in the space. It is a small multi-purpose room where the 100 seats can be stored beneath its technical flooring at the simple touch of a button.
