ACOUSTICAL

DESIGN
AUDITORIUM
 OUTLINE OF ACOUSTIC
REQUIREMENTS FOR GOOD SOUND
There should be adequate loudness in every part of the
auditorium, especially in remote seats.

The sound energy should be uniformly distributed within the

room.

Optimum reverberation characteristics should be provided in the

auditorium to facilitate whatever function is required.

The room should be free from acoustical defects (echoes, flutter

echoes, sound shadowing, room resonance, sound
concentrations and excessive reverberation).

Background noise and vibration should be sufficiently excluded

in order not to interfere in any way with the function of the
enclosure.
 ADEQUATE LOUDNESS
The auditorium should be shaped so that the audience is as
close to the sound source as possible. In larger auditoria the use of a
balcony brings more seats closer to the sound source.

The sound source should be raised as much as is feasible in

order to secure a free flow of direct sound to every listener.

The floor on which the audience sits should be properly raked as

sound is more readily absorbed when it travels at grazing incidence
over the audience. As a general rule, however, the gradient along
aisles of sloped auditoria should not be more than 1:8 in the interests
of safety. The audience floor of theatres for live performance,
especially open or arena stages should be stepped.

The sound source should be closely and abundantly surrounded

by large sound-reflective surfaces in order to increase the sound
energy received by the audience.
 ADEQUATE LOUDNESS
Parallelism between opposite reflective walls, particularly those close
to the source, should be avoided in order to eliminate undesirable
back reflection and flutter echo.

The audience should only be placed in areas which are advantageous

to both viewing and listening - generally the two are in agreement.
Excessively wide seating areas should be avoided. In addition, aisles
should preferably be located at the sides of the auditoria where
viewing is restricted, not down the centre where viewing and
listening is most favourable.

In addition to reflectors directing sound towards the audience,

additional reflectors are often needed to reflect sound back at
performers to enhance their ability to hear what is happening on
stage.
 ELIMINATION OF DEFECTORS

The defects are:

Echoes
Sound concentration
Sound shadow
Distortions
Coupled spaces
Room resonance
 ECHO

These are probably the most serious and most

common defect.

SOLUTION: Either alter the geometry of the

offending surface or apply absorber or diffusion.
 SOUND CONCENTRATION

Sometime referred to as 'hot-spots', these are

caused by focused reflections off concave surfaces.
The intensity of the sound at the focus point is
unnaturally high and always occurs at the expense
of other listening areas.

SOULTION: Treat with absorber or diffusers,

better still, redesign it to focus the sound outside or
above the enclosure.
 SOUND SHADOWING

Most noticeable under a balcony, it is basically the

situation where a significant portion of the reflected
sound is blocked by a protrusion that itself doesn't
contribute to the reflected component. In general,
avoid balconies with a depth exceeding twice their
height as they will cause problems for the rear-
most seats beneath them.

Solution: Redesign the protruding surface to

provide reflected sound to the affected seats or get
rid of the protrusion.
 DISTORTIONS

These occur as a result of widely varying absorption

coefficients at different frequencies. This applies an
undesirable change in the quality and tone
coloration (of frequency distortions) to sound
within the enclosure.

SOLUTION: Balance the absorption coefficients of

acoustical finishes over the whole audible range.
 COUPLED SPACES
When an auditorium is connected to an adjacent
space which has a substantially different RT, the
two rooms will form a coupled space. As long as the
airflow is unrestricted between the two spaces, the
decay of the most reverberant space will be
noticeable within the least reverberant. This will be
particularly disturbing to those closest to the
interconnection.

SOLUTION: Add some form of acoustic

separation (a screen or a door) or match the RT of
both rooms.
 ROOM RESONANCE

Room resonance is similar to distortions in that it

causes an undesirable tone coloration, however,
room resonance results from particularly
emphasized standing waves, usually within smaller
rooms. This is a significant concern when designing
control rooms and recording studios.

SOLUTION: Apply subtle changes in overall

shape of the room or find out which surfaces are
contributing and use large sound diffusers.
 AUDITORIUM DESIGN

The important factors which influence the

acoustical design of an auditorium are:

The volume.
The shape and
The sound absorption.
 VOLUME OF THE AUDITORIUM
The volume of the auditorium should be in proportion to the intensity of the
sound that is expected to be generated in the hall. In deciding the volume of
the hall, its height plays a significant role than its length or breadth. The ratio
of the height of ceiling to the width of the hall or room should be 2:3. This is
on account of the fact that a small increase in height increases the volume
considerably. The volume required for musical concert halls is larger than that
required for halls to be used for speech alone. In case, however, the
auditorium is to be used for both musical concerts as well as speech, the
volume of the auditorium should be chosen as to have a value intermediate
between the two. The following data may be used as a rough guide for
deciding the volume of an auditorium:
For public lecture halls = 2.8 to 3.7 cu.m. per person
For cinema theatres = 3.7 to 4.2 cu.m. per person
For concert halls = 4.2 t 5.6 cu.m. per person

It has been recommended that the volume of an auditorium in cubic meters

should not be greater than 5.7 times the number of seats provided in the hall.
AUDITORIUM DESIGN
 SHAPE OF THE AUDITORIUM

The shape of the auditorium is the governing factor

in avoiding the defects like echoes or other types of
reflections of sound waves. Since the behaviour of
sound in a hall is different from that in the open. It
is rather easier to create desirable acoustical
conditions in an auditorium rather than in an open
air theatre. Rectangular, horse shoe, circular or oval
are the typical possible shapes of the floor plan of
an auditorium.
 WALLS AND CEILING
The side walls and ceilings are advantageously used to provide
favourable reflections. The walls of the hall are so shaped and placed
as to minimize the possibilities of echoes. Plain walls are normally
found suitable.

The convex shaped walls are, however, considered best to reduce

echoes to a great extent.

In general, the ceiling height of the hall should be about to 2/3rd

of the width.

Ceiling plays a significant role in reflecting the sound to the rear

areas of the auditorium. A noteworthy point in the selection and
installation of the ceiling is that it should be ensured that the sound
waves get reflected either directly or via the walls to the audience in
such a manner that the waves do not concentrate at certain spots.
SOUND ABSORPTION MATERIALS

Sound absorbing materials are also used to minimize

objectionable reflection of sound. However, to ensure
effectiveness of the sound absorbing material, the zones of
installations have to be decided very carefully. The upper
surface of side walls should be used for mounting sound
absorbing materials. The materials of high frequency should
never be mounted behind pillars, balcony railing or other such
projections, whereas materials of low frequency range may be
mounted in such situations with little projections. A variety of
acoustical materials are manufactured these days. While
making a selection, due consideration should be given to their
appearance, light reflection, flame resistance, workability,
durability and cost.
 AUDIENCE
In addition, the furnishings and the audience
contribute to a great extent to the absorption
present in the room. In fact the audience may be
largest contributors to the absorption in any
auditorium. With a view to ensure optimum
absorption from the audience, the seats in the hall
are raked so that the heads in one row do not
intercept the passage of direct sound to the persons
in the row immediately behind.
SEATING ARRANGEMENT