EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE,

UNIVERSITY OF MALASIA
 INTRODUCTION

• Place – Malaysia • This is a performing art theatre which is suitable for

• Type of auditorium –
Performing Arts Theatre
• Year of construction – 1965
• Year of completion – 1966
• Volume – 5621sqm
• Capacity – 435 pax
stage performances and also conferences, seminars,
presentation and product launches also they do
outside parties.
• Present layout influenced by Richard Wagner’s
original concept of incorporating modern
innovations and systems.
 AUDITORIUM DESIGN

GROUND FLOOR PLAN FIRST FLOOR PLAN

1.Entrance 1.Lift lobby(entrance)
2.Male and female toilet 2.Male and female toilet
3.Performance stage 3.Backstage control room
4.Back stage 4.Balcony
5.Ramp(towards basement) 5.Staricase(from VIP
6.VIP entrance hallway entrance hallway)
 SECTION A-A’
1.Back stage 2.Balcony 3.House 4.Basement

SECTION B-B’
1.Perfomance stage 2.Basement 3.House 4.Orchestra Pit 5.Backstage 6.VIP entry
control room hallway
 SHAPE AND FORM
• Designed in a mixture of rectangular(shoe box) and fan shape
• Rectangular form allows both side reflections and receives strong component of
direct sound whereas concave surfaces of the hall serve to concentrate sound
energy to the centre of the space
• However the suitable position for optimum concentration of sound is still at the
centre of the theatre

Fan and shoe box shape Highlighted area is the best spot for sound
 LEVELLING AND ARRANGEMENT OF SEATS
AND STAGE
• Arrangement of seat is concentric arc of
circle efficiently for sound range to be
optimally reached at every angle.
• Seats are placed within 140 degrees of
sound projection which results in high
recurrence sound projected
• Distance between sound source from
stage and last row of seats is within
22.5m-ideal range for human hear Seat arrangement in concentric arc
• Seats levelled in staggered position to
allow direct sound reception without
obstruction
• However there are three-four rows of
seats covered by deep overhanging
balcony which experience sound
shadow, an occurrence which sound Sound projected through elevated seats and
doesn’t reach as effective as it should sound shadow area
 SOUND REINFORCEMENT
• The span of the theatre from the centre of the stage till the edge of theatre is
approximately 18m long.
• The distance for an auditorium to function without sound reinforcement is around
15m thus this Experimental Theatre is needed to be equipped with sound
reinforcement to help deliver and amplify the sound from the performers or
speaker on stage.
• The sound system components present in the auditorium are:
1. Line array

Height of line array speakers on section

 Position of line array speakers on plan. (at 6375mm)
2.Subwoofers 3.Two way wall speaker

Subwoofer placed on Position of subwoofer speakers Two-way wall speaker attachedPosition

to of two way wall speakers
stage on plan ceiling on plan

4.Stage Monitors

 Stage monitor  Stage monitor at

facing the stage the side of stage  Position of stage monitors
speakers on plan
MATERIALS TABULATION
 MATERIALS OF THE WALLS
ACOUSTIC TIMBER PANELS (12mm PLYWOOD PANELS)
• Timber is a sound absorptive
material.
• Places on a 2 layered 15mm air gap
insulated with 50mm of Rockwool
foam
• They have light boxes built in and is
partly covered with decorative
aluminium grills
• Arranged in a jagged pattern in
accordance to gypsum drywalls to
increase surface area to absorb
sound waves
On ground plan On gallery plan
• It reduces flutter echo
• Angular design reduces chances of
incident and reflected waves from
interfering each other

Sectional detail
ACOUSTIC FIBREGLASS PANLES

Placed at middle part of wall

• They are located at the back of the

theatre on both ground floor and gallery
On ground plan level
• They cover the middle part of the wall
and not the whole wall entirely to
prevent deadening of upper midst and
high
• They are effective sound absorbers
• They eliminates unwanted boundary
reflections and controls excessive room
reverberation.
Sectional detail
• By absorbing sound waves, this can
reduce resonance within the theatre
Drywall
• They are 2 layers of 15mm gypsum
board on steel studs and 150mm air
gap with 50mm Rockwool or fibreglass
in the cavity
• Shaped in a jagged pattern to increase
sound reflection from stage towards
the audience
• Complemented by acoustic timber
panels , jagged pattern of walls also
prevent flutter echo's as it eliminates
the parallelity of walls on flanking
sides
• The Rockwool foam layer inside the
drywall acts as sound absorber by
inducing resonance with sound wave On ground plan On gallery plan
• Sound waves lose energy because non
directional fibres traps airborne sound
more effectively than general
insulation products that contain
straight laid glass wool with air gap
Sectional detail
 MATERIAL OF THE FLOORS
MEDIUM PILE CARPET(7mm-36mm THICK) WITH UNDERLAY

• They are covered over concrete

flooring in house as concrete is a sound
reflector and interferes with incident
sound wave in the room
• To prevent, this carpet id used to
absorb impact noise created by foot
steps and dropped objects from the
audience.
• Carpets are porous which enable sound
waves to penetrate into pile carpet
instead of being reflected back into
room
• They are sound absorbers also because
individual fibres, pile tufts and
underlays have different resonant
frequencies at which they absorb
sound wave
• Wide range of resonant frequencies
enables it to absorb wide range of
HARDWOOD TIMBER WITH MARMOLEUM VINYL SHEET(20mm THICK POLISHED
TIMBER PARQUET ON CONCRETE)
• To overcome reflective properties of
concrete, a 20mm thick polished
timber parquet is laid over most of the
surface area of the stage to improve
sound absorption.
• Due to heavy foot traffic during
performance, timber parquet is not
sufficient in absorbing unwanted
sound.
• A marmoleum vinyl sheet is later
covered above the timber surface
• Marmoleum vinyl sheet increases the
impact time ,which promotes sound
reduction.
• With combination of 3 layers of
flooring, unwanted noise from foot
traffic is reduced
 MATERIALS OF THE CEILING
PLASTER CEILING (12mm THICK,GRC PLASTER)
• This is coated with white paint and is used to disperse sound from stage in a
controlled manner
• The curved edges of the ceiling aids sound dispersion to the seatingarea

OTHER MATERIALS
VELOUR ACOUSTIC CURTAINS(25mm-50mm thick) – Used at backstage to dampen
sound waves and to reduce reflection of sound ,reverberation and echo.
SEATING(UPHOLSTERED FORM SELF LIFTING SEAT WITH POLYURETHABE FOAM) – to
absorb sound and prevent echoes. This material will absorb high frequency sound
 SOUND REFLECTION AND DIFFUSION
A.WALL

FACTOR OF SHAPE
• The hard sound reflecting walls
reflects sound from stage towards
centre seats and side seats
• However most of the sound waves are
reflected to concave wall at the end
• To prevent and control excessive
reverberation of sound , rear concave
wall is lined with sound absorbing
acoustical panels
FACTOR OF SIZE
• Auditorium has a high repetition of
small sections of drywall and plywood
acoustics wall panels
• Sharp edges of these materials help to
diffuse high frequency sound which
has short wavelength and breaks and
disperse sound throughout