Now On Demand

Credits: 1 AIA LU; 0.1 IACET CEU

May qualify for learning hours through most Canadian architectural associations.

This webinar is part of the Acoustics Academy.

This webinar will explore acoustic design strategies in performance spaces by profiling three distinctive projects that were geared to provide optimal experiences for audiences, players, and owners alike.

Andrea P. Leers, FAIA, founding principal at Leers Weinzapfel Associates, is an internationally recognized leader in urban and campus design and building for higher education.

Josiah Stevenson, FAIA, LEED BD+C, principal at Leers Weinzapfel Associates, leads the firm’s community and civic projects, giving special attention to how they relate to their historic contexts and our sustainable future. Andrea and Josiah will present on three new performance spaces located throughout Massachusetts, catering to college campuses and the community at large. Acoustics and noise control are central to the overall success of these spaces:

• Farkas Hall at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (completed)
• New Performing Arts Center at Middlesex Community College, Lowell, Massachusetts (under construction)
• Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, Salem State University, Salem, Massachusetts (completed)

Sean Browne, principal scientist of global acoustics for Armstrong Ceiling Solutions, will present on overall trends and acoustic design strategies. A member of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), he has engineering degrees from Florida State University and The University of Miami. Sean holds a patent for a power and signal distribution system for use in interior building spaces, and has been published in the journals of the International Symposium on Room Acoustics and the Acoustical Society of America.

The presentations will be followed by a moderated discussion focused on how these projects using acoustical design strategies address several key issues, including:

• Cost: What tradeoffs, if any, are required to optimize acoustics in new building designs, particularly in performance spaces. In the featured projects, did meeting this challenge add costs that needed to be recouped in other areas of the project?
• Meeting standards: Were there any regulatory standards that the project needed to overcome? If so, what strategies did the design team use to overcome them?
• Drivers: Did the owner request an acoustically sound building, or did you, as the architects, propose it? If the latter, what led you to suggest using specific materials and strategies toward the end goal?
• Design constraints and opportunities

Learning Objectives – After viewing this webinar, you should be able to: 

1. Describe how three featured performance spaces benefit from designing with acoustics as a main component.
2. Define several innovative acoustical design strategies employed in the highlighted projects.
3. Discuss architectural considerations of incorporating noise control into modern performance spaces.
4. Explain the basic concepts of acoustic design and ways in which acoustic products and materials provide optimal experiences in the featured projects.
    

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