Acoustical Design of Auditoriums

- Multipurpose Halls

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• Topic
Acoustical Design of Auditoriums - Multipurpose Halls: History of Greek, Roman theatres. Use of IS code 2526
- 1963 for design and detailing of Auditoriums - Cinema Halls – Multipurpose Halls - Halls for speech and music.

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• IS 2526 -1963 – code of practice for acoustical design of auditorium and conference halls
• Public lecture halls – 3.5 to 4.5 cubic metres per person
• Cinemas or theaters - 4.0 to 5.0 cubic metres per person
• Musical halls or concert halls - 4.0 to 5.5 per person

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FOUR AREAS OF ACOUSTICAL CONCERN

SOUND ISOLATION INTERIOR ROOM ACOUSTICS

MECHANICAL NOISE Whooshing

ventilation ducts, vibrating compressor
PRACTICE ROOM ACOUSTICS
units, buzzing light ballasts — these are all
unwanted distractions in a music space

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POOR SOUND ISOLATION

• Sound from the floor, walls, ceiling. Closed doors and windows
• Sound from rehearsal rooms. (adjacent rehearsal Walls
rooms) Ceiling and floor
Travels through ducts and vents
• Sound from HVAC. Cracks and openings
• Sound from parking
• Sound from audience.

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Door and window check point
Are your doors too thin?
Are they hollow?
Do your doors have louver panels?
Are windows constructed with a single pane of glass?
How thick is the glass?

Sweep seal

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WALL CHECKPOINTS
• Look for visible gaps or openings.
• Are they cement block?
• Some lightweight cement block is very porous and can actually transfer a great deal of sound.
• If you have wood or metal studs and a single layer of gypsum board without insulation, you will probably hear significant
noise right though them
• Are your walls sealed along the floor?

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CEILING AND FLOOR CHECKPOINTS

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• Acoustics in school
• Class room satisfactory size for 40 students in 8.5*7m
• Acceptable noise level 40 db.
• RT in class room is dependent on purpose for which it is used, capacity and age group.
• In kindergarten – more sound absorptive materials is necessary.
• In lecture halls of higher schools the volume should be kept as less as possible. 12 cum/seat.
• It should be deigned for beneficial reflection.
• Length to width – 1.2 : 1 is ideal
• Music rooms should have higher ceiling.
• The school library should be acoustically well treated with proper sound absorbers and noise barriers. The flooring of this
space can be carpeted.

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The basic criteria

• Must have low ambient noise

from the external and
internal sources
• Avoid echoes
• Delayed reflection
(reverberation)
• Sound shadow

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Architectural consideration
• Shape
• Layout
• Dimensions
• Seating arrangements.
• Volume
• Audience capacity

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History
• The ancient Greeks built open-air theatres where the public could watch the performances
of Greek comedy, tragedy, and satyr plays. They then exported the idea to their colonies
throughout the Aegean so that theatres became a typical feature of the urban landscape in
all Greek cities. The Romans continued and expanded on the concept, added a monumental
backstage, and generally made the structure more grandiose. The large semi-circular structures,
still with their excellent acoustics, are visible today at many archaeological sites, and several of
them remain in use not only for modern concerts and performances but also for festivals of
ancient Greek drama.
• The earliest Greek theatres can be traced back to the Minoan civilization on Crete where a large
open space with stepped seating can still be seen today at the site of Phaistos. Evolving from a
stage area of tramped earth set before a natural hill on which spectators might sit and watch
religious ceremonies, the early theatres appeared from the 6th century BC and were built wholly
of wood.
• Early examples may also have had a rectangular arrangement of seating but this soon developed
into the semi-circular arrangement which allowed more people to see the spectacle and have a
better view.

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Roman theater

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 Types of auditorium
• For speech
-conference hall
-lecture hall
- law court
• For music
- concert hall
-music practice room
• Multi purpose
- school assembly hall
-Town hall

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Ceiling
• Ceiling height is usually determined by the
overall room volume that is required.
• Ceiling height should be about one third to
two third of the room width.
• The lower ratio is used for large rooms, and
the higher ratio is used for small rooms.
• A ceiling that is too high may result in a
room volume that is too large, and may also
create undesirable late reflection.
• To avoid flutter echo, a smooth ceiling
should not be parallel to the floor.
• The ceiling geometry is designed to direct
sound to the rear of the hall, or to diffuse it
throughout the hall.
• Concave surfaces should be avoided.

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 Balcony
• Generally, the balcony overhang
depth should be less than twice
the height of the balcony.
• The depth should not be more
than the height.
• Deep balconies can create
acoustical shadows in the seat
underneath balcony.
• Reflecting surfaces on the ceiling,
side walls, underside of the
balcony should be designed to
add as much as reflected sound as
possible to the seating areas on
the balcony and under it.

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Wall
• The rear wall must avoid any large, unbroken
concave geometry.
• Side wall must avoid parallelism.
• This can be tilting or splaying wall surface.
• These angles can also be advantageously used to
direct reflected sound to the audience seating
area, and to provide diffusion.
• Any surface that unavoidably introduces concave
geometry or an undesirable angle should be
covered with absorptive material.

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Floor
• In halls designed for either music or speech, a sloping floor is good for large halls.
• It improves sight line.
• They will be able to hear more direct sound.
• Floor should be carpeted.

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These are obtained rom spectators psychological
perception and viewing angles, as well as requirement for
good view from all seats.
30 – no movement
60 – slight eye movement
110 – slight eye and head movement
150 – head movement 90 degree.

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Three main types of loudspeaker system
1. Centrally located system – that is the single
cluster of loudspeakers to cater the entire
hall.
2. Distributed speakers – using number of
speakers distributed throught the hall.
3. Stereophonic speakers – with two or more
cluster of speakers around the stage.

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