Name of Auditorium: Calvary Convention Centre

Location:
Type of Auditorium:
Total Built Up Area:
Year of Completed:
Total Seats:
Jalan Jalil Perkasa 1, Taman Teknologi Malaysia, 57000 Kuala Lumpur,
Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur.
Multipurpose Auditorium, Holistic-driven events
600,000 square feet
2013
5,000 seat auditorium

Architectural acoustics refers to the relationship between sound produced in a space and its listeners, of particular concern in
the design of concert halls and auditoriums.

Good acoustic design takes into account such issues as

• reverberation time
• sound absorption of the finish material
• echoes; acoustic shadows
• sound intimacy
• texture, and blend; external noise.
ACOUSTICAL DESIGN FOR AUDITORIUM
1 SELECTION OF THE SITE
An ideal site should keep distance from any major sources of noise such as airports, highways and construction sites.

2 VOLUME
The size of the auditorium should remain optimum: small halls leads to irregular distribution of sound because of the formation of standing
waves. On the other which may large halls create a weaker intensity and longer reverberation time result in serious issues.

3 SHAPE AND FORM

Side walls and roofs in the auditorium create sound reflections of varying degrees depending on the shape and angle of the walls. In certain
situations, splayed side walls might be preferable to parallel walls to reflect sound energy to the rear of the hall. Concave curved surfaces on
ceilings or walls also help to concentrate the sound intensity in a specific region.

4 USE OF ABSORBENTS
Sound absorbents take in sound energy when sound waves are encountered, as opposed to reflecting the energy. Sound absorption is of
particular interest in soundproofing. Soundproofing aims to absorb as much sound energy as possible converting it into heat or transmitting it
away from a certain location.

5 REVERBERATION
The reverberation time is the time for the sound to die away after the sound source ceases, but that of course depends on the intensity of the
sound. The reverberation time is strongly influenced by the absorption coefficients of the surfaces but also depends upon the volume of the
room, bigger rooms produce longer reverberation times. Around 2 seconds is desirable TIME.

6 ECHELEON EFFECT
Acoustic waves are reflected by walls or other hard surfaces, such as staircases and hand railings to create a reflection of sound that arrives at
the listener with a delay after the direct sound AND it affects the clarity of the original sound.
 1. AUDITORIUM SHAPE 2. VOLUME
AND MASSING
• Horseshoe-type hall with a
combination of both curved
and flat walls.

• the sound absorbent materials

effectively brought down the
reverberation time to 0.9
seconds which is suitable for
speeches.

3. SEATING ARRANGEMENT 4. LEVELLING OF STAGES AND SEATS

• decreases the chance of sound

waves being affected by
obstructions as compared to
shoebox type halls.

• Raked seats increases the

volume and clarity of sound
MATERIALS AND PROPERTIES
 SOUND REFLECTION ECHOES AND TIME DELAY

TIME DELAY
Ceiling reflectors serve to reflect sound effectively back to the audience.
= (16m + 18m) - 21m
0.34
= 13m
0.34
= 38.2ms
For speech-based auditorium, any sound delay above 40ms will
be considered as an echo.
ABSORPTION OF SURFACE
Absorption of a Surface = Surface Area (m2) x Absorption
Coefficient, α (Sabins)
As = S x αs

CALCULATION OF REVERBERATION TIME

Sabine Formula:
RT = 0.16V
AT
where:
RT = reverberation time (sec)
V = volume of the room (cu.m)
AT = total absorption of room
surfaces (sq.m sabins)