Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PJ Live Art Report
PJ Live Art Report
GROUP MEMBERS:
BENJAMIN TAN ZI HERN 0324857
CHEOK JIAN SHUANG 0320089
CHONG KIT YEE 0319748
CHONG XIN DEAN 0325353
CHONG ZHAO LUN 0320408
FRANCIS YEOW SHENG 1101A12395
ONG TUN CHIEK 0319939
TUTOR:
AR. EDWIN CHAN YEAN LIONG
Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Aim and objective
1.2 Introduction to site
5.0 Conclusion 39
6.0 References 40
1.0 Introduction
Architectural acoustics is the science and engineering of achieving a desired sound within a
building. This is the science of controlling a room's surfaces based on sound absorbing and
reflecting properties. Reverberation time, which can be calculated, can determine the proper
materials needed for absorption of sound.
Sound reflections create standing waves that produce natural resonances that can be heard
as a pleasant sensation or an annoying one. Reflective surfaces can be angled and
coordinated to provide good coverage of sound for a listener in a concert hall or music recital
space.
The purpose of this case study is to observe the constitutions of good stage and audience
acoustics. It is a study of the relationship between the auditoriums layout, choice of exterior
and interior envelope, acoustic manipulating devices such as reflective and dampening
panels, and the resultant acoustic effects. The premise of good sound quality in our case
would revolve around the reverberation time within our audience area. A longer
reverberation means a lingering of background noise that may produce undesirable sound
effects.
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1.2 Introduction to Site
PJ Live Arts Centre is a theater within Jaya One, a mixed use commercial hub located on
the first floor. the theater opens weekdays 12pm-7pm.
Jaya One can be reached via LDP, Sprint, Kerinchi, and Federal Highways. It is located
along Jalan Universiti, Petaling Jaya. It is a 10 minutes commute from the Asia Jaya LRT
station (opposite Menara Axis) by a taxi or Rapid KL Bus to Jaya One. It is also accessible
by RapidKL buses, and is a 30 minute drive from KL city centre or Subang Jaya.
Historical Background
Opened in 2009, Selangor's first independent theatre facility, dedicated to presenting the
best in family and comedy programming, PJ Live Arts is an organisation best known as a
catalyst for community outreach and support, utilising arts as a platform to raise funds for
charities and education; and to promote the community involvement in its theatre and
audience development.
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Drawings:
Plans
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Ground Floor Plan
Scale 1 : 200
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Section
Scale 1 : 200
2.0 Acoustical Phenomenon
When sound travels in a given medium, it strikes the surface of another medium and
bounces back in some other direction, this phenomenon is called the reflection of sound.
The waves are called the incident and reflected sound waves.
Hard surfaces will reflect almost all incident sound energy striking them. Convex reflecting
surfaces will disperse sound while concave reflecting surfaces will concentrate the reflected
sound.
Reflections may be used in room acoustics to distribute and reinforcements sounds.
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Figure 2.1.2: Sound reflection on concave surface.
Focusing by concave surface
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2.2 Sound Absorption
Sound absorption is the change in sound energy into some other form, usually heat when it
passes through a material or strikes a surface.
Soft, porous materials and fabrics, and people absorb a considerable amount of sound
energy when it impinges on them. In Room Acoustics, the surfaces of walls, floors and
ceilings, room contents including people, and the air of the space contribute to sound
absorption.
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II. Panel Absorbers
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2.3 Direct & Indirect Sound Path
Direct sound is sound that travels straight from speakers, etc. to the ear without being
affected by obstacles. Indirect sound, on the other hand, reaches the ear after reflecting off
surfaces such as ceilings or walls.
Reflected sound beneficially reinforces the Direct sound if the time delay between them Is
relatively short, that is a maximum of 30msec.
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2.4 Reverberation Time
Definition:- the time for the sound pressure level in a room to decrease by 60dB from its
original level after the sound is stopped.
Sound waves that cause reverberation loses energy as they are absorbed at each
successive reflection. If the source of sound stops, then the reverberant sound level decays
(loses sound pressure level over some time) The time it takes for sound pressure level to
decay will affect the acoustical quality of an enclosure.
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3.0 Acoustical Analysis
The theaters overall shape is rectilinear with several angular and parallel walls at the sides
of the theater. This configuration hints to a poor acoustical design as parallel walls tend to
contribute to the issue of flutter echoes which consist of a rapid succession of noticeable
small echoes that affect acoustic quality of a theater.
However, flutter echoes can be tackled when parallelism is being avoided. Slight tilt of the
wall should be implement as it can prevent sound waves from being reflected back to the
sound source.
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II. Arrangements of seats
The seats within the theater are arranged in a fan shaped configuration to ensure a
maximum number of seats are fitted, as well as to obtain an optimum view of the stage area
from every seat. Most importantly, it helps to achieve the most effective acoustic quality as
sound waves travel in a spherical order. In addition to this theory, it is also important to note
that the angle at which the seating arrangement are fanned out.
It is tested that by including a 140-degree sound projection angle from the center of the
sound source on the stage. Should all seats fall within the angle of the sound projection
area, the seating arrangement is well configured and effectively deemed.
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Figure 3.1.3: The elevated seats in the auditorium.
Figure 3.1.4: The expected sound reflection from ceiling reflectors to the audience.
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3.2 Materials and Properties
Finishing Materials
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Curtain Blackout Red main 47.88m 0.06 0.38 0.7
Fabric in fold act curtain * 5=
(0.5kg/m) x1 239.4m
Black Grand
Drape x1
Black
Border x3
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Materials Location
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Construction Materials
I. Interior wall
Plasterboards with cellular core are being installed on the sides of the auditorium as well
the partitions between front and back stage. Plasterboard has low sound absorption, hence,
sound waves will be reflected and forming echoes subsequently. On the other hand, to aid
with the sound absorption, Hollow cellular core was sandwiched in between the
plasterboards. The air pockets within these hollow core absorb sound wave to reduce
echoes. To prevent flutter echoes, parallelism is avoided on the sides of the auditorium.
Painted concrete walls are rarely being used throughout the auditorium due to their lower
sound absorption coefficient than drywalls. Concrete walls provide the mass required to
effectively reduce the transmission of sound, particularly low frequency sounds such as
those from audio systems.
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II. Floor (Ground Floor)
Plywood covered with veneer laminate floorings contribute to the sound absorption of the
auditorium. Veneer laminate flooring with a layer underlayment which add a feeling of solidity
to the floor and reduce the hollow percussive sound that footfalls can produce when laminate
flooring is floated over a subfloor without the benefit of underlayment. Veneer laminate floor
combine a long lasting resilient core with a mass loaded acoustic barrier to effectively control
the hollow percussive noises associated with hard floor finishes.
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IV. Floor (Stage)
The materials used to construct the theater stage are similar to the materials used to
construct the balconys floor - plywoods as decking on timber floor joists. However, to
increase its stability as a performance stage, aluminium galvanized steel posts were added
underneath the timber bearers.
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3.3 Acoustic Wall Panelling / Wall Treatment
I. Side walls
Acoustic wall panellings are installed along the side walls of the theater in the form of fabric
wrapped melamine foam. By installing porous membrane such as melamine foam, this could
absorb the medium to high frequencies to reduce reverberation time subsequently. Fibrous
web fabric is used for covering the foam to allow sound waves to be dissipated through the
porous membrane before being trapped and dampened.
Figure 3.2.6, 3.2.7: Wall panelling on the side walls of the theater.
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3.4 Sound and Noise Source
Technically similar in definition, noise and sound differ based on the users perception. Noise
is simply undesirable sound that emanates from a variety of sources. Sound on the other
hand, is almost always intentional and directed towards its audience.
Sound Source
Sound Surround System
The PJ Live Arts using the 5.1 surround sound system since August 2009. Most auditorium
had used this surround sound system as to reinforce the basic stereo sound. With this
system, it provides a high standard quality of sound for the audience who is watching the
performance in a large space of auditorium. The speaker consists of 5 speakers with
installed on each location differently and a subwoofer which is an ideal solution to increase
audio clarity and intelligibility in a large auditorium space. The placement of speakers need
to be considered where mostly installed on high level and mounted on the sidewall to deliver
enough of the sound to the audience.
Equipment Location
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Figure 3.4.2: Placement of the speaker.
There are two different location of speakers that are installed in this auditorium. 8 speakers
with divided into two group are mounted on top of the ceiling level and two portable speakers
on the stage which to cover up the whole space that can available to receive the sound
clearly whether is on the balcony or the floor level. The 4 subwoofer are installed on the
ceiling of the auditorium which produce low frequencies of bass sound to balance the music
or speech on the equalization for the audience the perfect sound.
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Equipment Specification
Specification (A)
Weight 24 kg
Specification (B)
Weight 26.3 kg
Specification (C)
Weight 11.38 kg
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Noise Source
I. External Sources
There are multiple noise sources from the external environment of PJ Live Arts. These
include the walking and talking noises from the restaurants and bars and the background
hum from the mall nearby. Noise is undesirable sound so steps to control the penetration of
noise into the auditorium are necessary. The auditorium utilises methods of wall acoustic
treatments covered in section 3.3. The diagram below indicates the ground floor plan and
the potential external noise sources.
Jaya One being a commercial hub for small and large retail stores attracts a steady flow of
patrons. Located away from the main road, the most prominent noise comes from chatter
from the bars and restaurants near the auditorium.
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Even though these are not evident in our case study, further suggestions can be made to
append the degree of insulation from external noises if need be. For instance, the installation
of a drywall with an air channel and connected using resilient clips. To further insulate from
external noise, the addition of mass to the drywall will reduce the noise energy transfer
thereby losing the energy as heat within the wall.
Internal sound and noise sources include the overhead speakers adjacent to the stage,
HVAC systems such as ceiling air vents and air conditioning vents installed at the lower floor
ceiling. The overhead speakers and ceiling light produce a dim static noise when operating.
More background noises include the thudding produced by footsteps on the auditorium floor
and stage and noises from backstage.
Air cond and diffuser
Japan Ventech Air diffuser round shape
ceiling diffuser Aluminum air vent jet
nozzle
Fluorescent light
(purple Neon) Leyton lighting 13w T15
slimline
Ceiling Light
Watt Frosted Round LED Ceiling Light
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Figure 3.4.5: Internal sounds produced by existing sound system.
Note that the sound path travelling towards the stage is dimmed. This is because sound
refracts upwards at night due to temperature differences and is subsequently absorbed by
the panels immediately behind the speakers.
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Figure 3.4.7: HVAC vents on the lower ceiling.
Any noise from people or objects using the walkways are highly legible to the existing
audience due to a lack of carpeting. However, the use of a timber laminate flooring finish on
top of plywood decking are inherently sound absorbent materials due to their elasticity. This
property allows vibrations to filter through a little better than hard rigid materials like
concrete.
Figure 3.4.8, 3.4.9: Stage and Seating Area Floor Cut Section.
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Figure 3.4.10: B
ackground noises from HVAC system.
The diagram highlighted the deep balcony as a potential acoustic shadow area , the
application of absorption wall possibly reflect to lose the energy , received low intensity of
those reflected sound towards the area below forming a sound shadow area.
Figure 3.5.1: Sound shadow diagram in section. The result shows the low sound intensity at the acoustic shadow
area by sound clapping
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Figure 3.5.2: Potential sound shadow area.
The diagram shows the sound intensity levels of the sound source with the distinct sound at
the concentrate zone which located at centre of auditorium , has the highest intensity level.
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Figure 3.5.3: Sound intensity level diagram
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The diagram shows that the sound concentration zone has been formed because of the
rectangular shape of the auditorium. This rectangular design of the auditorium will fit well into
many conventional new buildings. This form is only well suited for lecture, film or speech
type theatre. However, this design does not facilitate a close relationship between performer
and the audience which the PJ Live Arts Center is striving for.
On the other hand, a fan shaped massing of the auditorium with a 130 degrees wide spread
from a central focal point will be able to pull the attention of the audience towards to the
performers.
To make better use of the sound, the reflected sound has to be controlled properly to avoid
echoes. Therefore, reflectors have to be used so that maximum amount of sound in the
auditorium can be reflected to the audiences.
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Figure 3.5.6: Sound reflection towards audience at row 11.
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The sound is effectively reflected back to the audience by the ceiling reflector. However, the
flooring of the auditorium should be covered with more absorbent material to minimize the
reflection of sound.
In this analysis, only reflective surfaces will be treated as effective sources of sound delay.
Generally, in a theater designed for performances, any sound delay above 100ms will be
considered as an echo.
Echo
=[(8.0+7.9)-7.7]*0.34
=5.40ms
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Figure 3.5.9: 2.24ms of sound delay is acceptable for a performance theater.
Echo
=[(11.4+8.1)-12.9]*0.34
=2.24ms
Echo
=[(15.1+2.8)-15.5]*0.34
=0.82ms
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The sound delay present in PJ Live Arts is very minimal that it is close to impossible to
discern. Therefore, this theater will not suffer from any intelligible sound caused by echoes.
Ceiling
a. Rockwool : 0.80 x 226.75m = 181.4 msabins
b. Perforated plywood panels : 0.70 x 37.2m = 26.04 msabins
Balcony
a. Plasterboard : 0.10 x 56.09m = 5.61 msabins
Wall
a. Rockwool : 0.80 x 38.48m = 30.78 msabins
b. Fibrous web fabric : 0.20 x 223.18m = 44.64 msabins
c. Melamine based foam : 0.54 x 223.18m = 102.72 msabins
d. Concrete : 0.02 x 120.64m = 2.41 msabins
Curtain
a. Blackout fabric : 0.38 x 239.4 m = 90.97 msabins
Seating
a. Unoccupied : 0.1 x 6.5m = 0.65 msabins
Floor
a. Veneer finishes : 0.08 x 282.84m = 22.67 msabins
b. Plywood : 0.1 x 51.11m = 5.11msabins
c. Concrete : 0.02 x 59.52 m = 1.19 msabins
According to the calculation, the reverberation time of the theatre is 1.08s which is within the
recommended range of 1.00s - 1.25s for a medium sized multipurpose room. This shows
that the materials used is good absorbers and causes less echoes are heard. Sounds within
the halls does not linger around for a long period. However, it does not suitable for music
performances as the sound diminished too quickly.
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4.0 Issues and Recommendations
Issue 1 : Finishing materials of floor
The present floor in PJ Live Arts Theatre consist of concrete, plywood with veneer finishing
acts as a form of noise source. This is mainly due to the low absorption coefficient of the
finishing material which contributes the most to sound absorption.
Recommendation :
The thickness of hardwood veneer finishing can be increased to improve the efficiency of
sound absorption. 6 mm pile carpet bonded to open-cell foam underlay which has 0.2
absorption coefficient also can be added to help reduce noise from both the reflection and
also the impact sound of between shoes and floor.
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Issue 2 : Wall Reflective Panel
Recommendation:
Timber side wall panel can be applied to the first portion of the auditorium in order to
supply additional sound energy which ensure the uniform distribution of sound wave in the
theater.
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5.0 Conclusion
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5.0 References
Sound Transmission and Flooring Types. (2010, March 26). Retrieved September 30, 2017,
from
https://www.builddirect.com/learning-center/home-improvement-info/sound-transmission/
Sound Insulation Properties of Concrete Walls and Floors (2009, March). Retrieved
September 18 2017, from http://59.167.233.142/publications/pdf/SoundInsulation.pdf
Inc., T. S., Says, J., Says, N., Says, R. C., Says, E., Says, H. S., & Says, S. (2017, June 30).
Auditorium Seating Layout & Dimensions Guide. Retrieved September 30, 2017, from
http://www.theatresolutions.net/auditorium-seating-layout/
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