Case Study on Acoustic Design: Connexion Conference & Event Centre

CONNEXION CONFERENCE & EVENT CENTRE 7, Jalan Kerinchi, Bangsar South City, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

WHAT IS IT USED FOR ? mostly speech

Their ballrooms and meeting rooms are popular because of the exibility of their space. They have a state of the art Auditorium that comes with a top class AV system and a three tier seating arrangement Annual General Meeting (AGM), Business Presentation, Concert, Conference, Convention, Press Conference, Product Launch, Product Talk, Seminar, Training Session

METHODOLOGY

Bosch GLM 100 Digital Laser Measuring Device Taking measurement of the space to produce accurate drawings and analysis.

Pocket measuring tape

Sound Level Meter

Smartphone

Measuring the details to produce accurate drawings and analysis.

To access background noise sound concentration and intensity.

Playing videos providing a constant tune.

ANALYSIS

3.1 Auditorium Design 3.2 Sound Propagation 3.3 Sound Reinforcement 3.4 Noise Intrusion 3.5 Reverberation Time

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

FORM CURVILINEAR FORM = POOR ACOUSTICAL DESIGN CONCAVE WALL CONCENTRATE REFLECTED SOUND

CONCENTRATION IN THE CENTRE OF THE AUDITORIUM

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

STAGE LEVELLING

ELEVATED AUDIENCE SEATINGS = SOUND UNINTERRUPTED BY OBJECTS

SOUND DISTRIBUTED MORE EVENLY

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

SEATING ARRANGEMENT 298 SEATS CAPACITY FANNED OUT CONFIGURATION AT 140°

ALL SEATS HAVE AN OPTIMUM VIEW + PROPER SOUND COVERAGE

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

HOUSE MATERIALS : SOUND ABSORBENT

Acoustic Fabric

Medium Pile Carpet

Upholstery Fabric

Thin Carpet

Heavy Velour Curtain

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

HOUSE MATERIALS : SOUND REFLECTIVE

Acoustic Fabric

Gypsum Plasterboard Ceiling

Timber Veneer

Tinted Glass

Steel Railings

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

STAGE MATERIAL Sound Absorbent Materials

Heavy Velour Curtain

Sound Reflective Materials

Acoustic Fabric

Timber Parquet Flooring

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT MATERIAL Acoustic Panels

-

Outer fabric layer act as high frequency sound reflector Air gap act as low frequency sound absorber

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT MATERIAL Medium Pile Carpet

-

To absorb airborne sound Reduce impact sound on the floor

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT MATERIAL Stage

-

Sound reflection occurs between hard surfaces Sound energy loss due to reflected multiple times in between hard objects

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT MATERIAL Thin Carpet in Control Room

-

Sound absorbance of thin carpet is not strong enough STC value of both combination of glass and wall is high.

Sound energy do not escape from control room

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT MATERIAL Upholstered Tip-Up Seatings

-

-

Sound absorption coefficient of the chair is equivalent to an average person The RT in the auditorium remains constant whether the capacity of the hall is partially or fully filled

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT MATERIAL Heavyweight Velour Curtain

-

The highly porous material act as thousands of tiny sound traps

-

The pleating is able to expose more sound-absorbing surface, thus increasing effective surface area and improving low frequency sound attenuation.

AUDITORIUM DESIGN

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT MATERIAL Gypsum Plaster Ceiling

-

High stiffness and hard surface This contributes to its low sound absorption coefficient, making it a good sound reflector.

SOUND PROPAGATION

46.1

46.2

41.55

SOUND PROPAGATION

47.3

38.2

44.7

SOUND CONCENTRATION

48.45

35.85

45.65

52.75

53.75

46.6

CONCENTRATION IN THE CENTRE OF THE AUDITORIUM

NOT OBSERVED

DUE TO ACOUSTIC PANELS LOW FREQUENCY SOUND ABSORBER HIGH FREQUENCY SOUND REFLECTOR

CONCAVE WALL TENDS TO

LOW FREQUENCY SOUND ABSORBER

HIGH FREQUENCY SOUND REFLECTOR

CONVERGE REFLECTED SOUND

REDUCE IMPACT OF SOUND CONCENTRATION

SOUND INTENSITY HIGHER IMMEDIATELY OFF THE REFLECTIVE SURFACE

46.1

46.2

41.55

47.3

38.2

44.7

48.45

35.85

45.65

52.75

53.75

46.6

SOUND PROPAGATION

SOUND ATTENUATION TOWARDS THE BACK OF AUDITORIUM ANOMALY DUE TO SOUND REFLECTION

SOUND PROPAGATION

SOUND REFLECTION

GYPSUM PLASTER CEILINGS TILTING OF CEILING = EFFECTIVE CEILING DESIGN

EFFECTIVELY REFLECTS THE SOUND TO THE BACK OF THE AUDITORIUM

C B Direct Sound Sound Reflection

A

SOUND PROPAGATION

SOUND REFLECTION HIGHER SIL MEASUREMENT THAN POSITION A DUE TO

EFFECTIVE CEILING REFLECTION

46.1

47.3

48.45

52.75

46.2

C

41.55

38.2

B

44.7

35.85

A

45.65

53.75

46.6

SOUND PROPAGATION

SOUND REFLECTION

TIMBER AND GLASS PANEL

REFLECTS SOUND BACK TO THE SEATINGS

C B

Direct Sound Sound Reflection

A

SOUND PROPAGATION

SOUND REFLECTION HIGHER SIL MEASUREMENT THAN POSITION B DUE TO

EFFECTIVE WALL REFLECTION

46.2 46.1

47.3

48.45

52.75

C

41.55

B

44.7

38.2

35.85

A

53.75

45.65

46.6

SOUND PROPAGATION

R2

R1

SOUND DELAY & ECHO D

19.09 m/s

R2

FOR SPEECH SOUND DELAY < 40 m/s

= NO ECHO

R1

D

8.88 m/s

R2 R1

D

3.91 m/s

SOUND PROPAGATION

FLUTTER ECHO

PARALLEL WALL ONLY AT FRONT PART OF STAGE

INSIGNIFICANT FLUTTER ECHO

NON PARALLEL ALIGNMENT OF CEILING TO FLOOR

NO FLUTTER ECHO

SOUND REINFORCEMENT FULL RANGE SPEAKERS & AMPLIFIERS

INSTALLATION OF LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM

EVENLY DISTRIBUTE SOUND 2-WAY CEILING SPEAKERS

NOISE INTRUSION

INTERNAL NOISE : movement & activity of users DOOR SLAM STOPPER

TIMBER STAIRCASE

AUDITORIUM CHAIRS

NOISE INTRUSION

INTERNAL NOISE : mechanical & electrical service

AIR CONDITIONING

SPEAKERS + VENTILATION DUCTS

FORMING BACKGROUND NOISE

NOISE CONTROL

internal noise control: SOUND ABSORPTION MEDIUM PILE CARPET

ACOUSTIC FABRIC

UPHOLSTERY FABRIC

VELOUR CURTAIN & ACOUSTIC FABRIC

NOISE INTRUSION

EXTERNAL NOISE : vehicular & human

VEHICULAR NOISES

HUMAN NOISES

located next to the drop off of the building and facing main road

people can be heard talking outside at the waiting area/reception area

NOISE CONTROL

external noise control: SOUND LOCK

SIDE ENTRANCE OF THE AUDITORIUM

MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE AUDITORIUM

curved hallway that is connected from the back of the auditorium and leads directly to the loading bay entrance, allowing user to leave during an ongoing event without disruption

block the sound of people’s movement and interaction at the foyer and also the sound of traffic as the auditorium is located next to the main road

NOISE CONTROL

external noise control: SOUND INSULATION

200mm Concrete wall

HIGH STC OF 58

BLOCKS AIRBORNE NOISE

BACKGROUND NOISE

BACKGROUND NOISE 33.4 DB

MATCHES THE RECOMMENDED NOISE CRITERIA

NC 25

GOOD LISTENING CONDITION DUE TO EFFICIENT NOISE CONTROL

REVERBERATION TIME RT = 0.16 V / A A = 7 + 85.16 + 2.81 + 167.57 + 15.84 + 26.8 + 142.38 + 132 + 0.21 = 579.77 m² sabins The volume, V of the auditorium is 2265.14m³ Therefore, RT = 0.16(2265.14) / 579.77 = 0.625s

●

CONCLUSION

● ● ●

CCEC as a Limited Auditorium more suited for Conferences

●

● ●

Excellent interior design with minor compromise on acoustic quality Concave layout maximises capacity Convergences of sound due to the layout is resolved with use of acoustic panels Levelling and arrangement of seats maximise sound reception Careful tilting of ceilings amplifies direct sound vias reflected indirect sound and eliminates sound delay, preventing echo Selection of materials and effective sound lock minimise sound intrusion, impact noise and echo Abundant use of sound absorbent materials reduces RT, making it acoustically ‘dead’

REFERENCE Books Appleton, I. (2008). Buildings for the performing arts. 2nd ed.

Oxford: Architectural, pp.65-160.

Cavanaugh, W. (2009). Architectural Acoustics: Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons.

Hardy, H. (2006). Building type basics for performing arts facilities.

Hoboken, N.J.: John wiley & Sons.

Raimond, J. (1934). The coefficient of differential galactic absorption. [Groningen].

Website Acousticalsolutions.com. (2019). [online] Available at: https://acousticalsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/ 01/as-studio-54-acoustic-panels-data-sheet.pdf AcousticsFREQ.com. (2019). Sound-Absorbing Drapery: Theory & Application. [online] Available at: http://acousticsfreq.com/sound-control-acoustic-curtain/

Creamer Media's Engineering News. (2019). Carpet effective, presents sound-absorption solution. [online] Available at: https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/carpet-effective-presents-so und-absorption-solution [Accessed 13 May 2019].

Homecarpetone.com. (2019). Why Carpets are Extremely Effective at Sound Absorption. [online] Available at: https://homecarpetone.com/blog/2013/12/6/Fuzz_Buzz_Flooring/Why_ Carpets_are_Extremely_Effective_at_Sound_Absorption/ar/18/ Lifewire. (2019). When It Comes to Your Speakers, Power Has Little to Do With Volume. [online] Available at: https://www.lifewire.com/amp-power-speaker-efficiency-3135077 [Accessed 13 May 2019].

Mbr-design-group.com. (2019). [online] Available at: http://www.mbr-design-group.com/tech/notes/NC%20Table.pdf Webb, D. (2019). First reflection, Flutter echo, Comb Filtering. [online] Webblab.sk. Available at: http://webblab.sk/home-studio/8-first-reflection-flutter-echo-comb-filterin g