renderings
Back view Studio 3
Front view Studio 3
Side view Studio 3
acoustical test
Studio 3 is the third of three Studios analysed for my thesis project: “Acoustics in educational spaces”.
What concerned this case study was testing the reverberation time of the room (see diagram on the right), and find a lightweight solution to improve the acoustics.
The existing situation has been tested with professional acoustic microphones and sound generators to record and produce all of the frequencies.
As the test result shows, the reverberation time is of 2.01 sec. in empty room. By the German standard DIN 18041 the reverberation time in classrooms should lie in between 0.5 and 0.7 sec. in occupied rooms.
DESIGN DIAGRAMS
The lightweight construction was formed by a recyclable acoustic tensile membrane attached to an anodised aluminium structure, of different shapes for each classroom. The membrane had the characteristic of trapping 65% of unwanted sound waves to avoid long reverberations. The anodised aluminium structure allowed to shape the membranes in order to gather better acoustics.
By knowing the absorbance coefficient of the acoustic tensile membrane and the reverberation time of the room, I was able to calculate the amount of squared meters of absorbing membrane needed to fulfil the DIN 18041 standard.
A functional structure has been designed
A sequence of differently shaped membranes has been attached to the structure to trap the sound
technical drawings
The design concept of the project was the propagation of the sound, which generated three different classroom’s designs. In the case of Studio 3 the design was of a lecture hall.
The design of the structure and the acoustic tensile membranes was made in a way to create a great amount of “sound traps” able to capture unwanted sound waves from multiple positions.
The existing suspended ceiling helped to make the best out of the hole left in the middle of the room ceiling. This generated a big sound trap where the waves enter and get blocked.
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
SECTION 5-5
SECTION 6-6
DETAIL DRAWINGS
CONNECTION ALUMINIUM STRUCTURE-ACOUSTIC TENSILE MEMBRANE
Looking at the detail drawing on the right, more specifically at the Section A-A, is possible to understand how the tensile membranes are attached to the structure.
Every tensile membrane comes with a profile out of silicone that will be clipped into a metal profile welded to the aluminium structure.
Final result
In the end a proof of design has been generated by using a software developed by the same company that provided the acoustic equipment. The software was able to predict the new reverberation time of the rooms by knowing the existing reverberation time situation and the amount and type of acoustic material to import.
Since the DIN 18041 specify that the reverberation time should lie in between 0.5 and 0.7 seconds in occupied classrooms, the software was also able to import “virtual people” in the rooms, estimating the absorbance coefficient per person.