What are the Design Components of an Auditorium?

Auditoriums and performing arts centers are important features of many K-12 and
higher education facilities. They not only host the latest dramatic or musical
performance for students, but they can also be used for professional
performances, large meetings, community events, and other activities. They are
truly an educational and community asset.

Designing auditoriums requires knowledge of specialized pieces and parts—many

of which are not apparent to an audience. Below, I’ll describe the major
components we consider when designing these spaces.

Lobby

While the lobby is not usually an active part of a performance, it is the first entry
point into the auditorium and should be looked at just as carefully as any other
theatrical space.

Design and Safety Considerations:

  Traffic flow is critical in the lobby, as it needs to accommodate a large
crowd going in and out of the house. Consider how many people your
auditorium will seat. Most of them will be moving through the lobby at
one point, many at the same time.
 Designated spots for gathering can also be helpful in the lobby, allowing
actors or other performance members to come out and greet the
audience without blocking exits or access to other spaces.
 Adequate signage and wayfinding to help people find their seats, exits,
and restrooms will make for safer and more efficient movement of the
crowd.
 You may also see a coat room or a ticket booth connected to the lobby. A
ticket booth often serves as a gateway to enter the lobby. Some schools
are eliminating physical ticket booths with the increasing use of pre-sold
and digital tickets.

LaPorte High School Performing Arts Center | LaPorte, IN

House

The house is the auditorium’s main seating area. There are many components to
the house that make for an enjoyable, accessible, and safe viewing experience for
performances and events of all types.

Design and Safety Considerations:

 Adequate space should be planned for the maximum audience size you
need your auditorium to accommodate. We typically design for
approximately 18 sq. ft. of space per person. This square footage
accounts for aisle ways, sound and light control areas, and entryways.
 Viewing angles are of utmost importance for the audience. Most houses
are designed with a slope to ensure every seat has visibility to the stage.
However, the degree of slope must meet Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) requirements. Some older auditorium houses have a steeper slope
than is permitted by today’s standards.
 In addition to proper slope grade, other features for safe egress and
accessibility include clear access to emergency exits, handrails, wheelchair
accessible ramps where needed, and proper aisle lighting. It’s also
important to consider maintenance of items like seats that automatically
raise up to ensure clear paths for people to move.
 Hearing what’s happening on stage is just as important as seeing
it! Acoustics are an integral part of house design—to amplify what you
want to hear, and quiet what you don’t. We always utilize an acoustician to
optimize sound travel throughout this space. Placement of things like
acoustical panels so that audience members don’t hit or damage them is
also important.

 
 Concord High School Performing Arts Center | Elkhart, IN
Stage

The stage is where the action happens. There are many components that work
together on the stage—many not visible from the house—to create a great
production for the audience and a safe performance for participants.

Design and Safety Considerations:

 Stages can vary in size, depending on their anticipated uses. When
determining stage size, consider the largest production you intend to
have. A typical stage is 30-35 ft. deep with an opening (called the
proscenium) of approximately 40-45 ft. wide and 30 ft. tall. Stages should
be handicap accessible, and the edges of the stage should be lit to
prevent falls when the house lights are lowered.
 There are additional components to a stage. Some stages have what is
called a “thrust” that protrudes beyond the proscenium out into the
audience. There are also side stages, or wings. These should be about half
the size of the proscenium width to allow actors and scenery to safely
move on and off the stage. The vertical space above the stage is called the
“fly.” This is where the curtains are pulled straight up, making this space
 about as tall as the proscenium. This is why, from the exterior, you will
often see a section of an auditorium that is taller than the rest.
 Some stages have an orchestra pit in front. Pits are set lower than the
stage so as not to obstruct the view. Some pits have lifts to raise and
lower them, allowing them to be used as part of the stage if desired. Pit
lifts require special safety and maintenance considerations. Pit fillers can
be used if a pit lift is not in the budget. Fillers are large sections of stage
floor that are manually moved on and off the pit to create more
performance space. Adequate structural support below the fillers is
critical for safety.
 Curtains and rigging are very technical aspects of a performance and
require close attention and maintenance. We always work with a theater
and rigging specialist to design these components according to a school’s
performance needs.

Black Box Theater at LaPorte High School and Backstage/Scenery Storage at Warsaw
High School
Backstage

A variety of spaces backstage, if designed and utilized well, make the performance
on stage go smoothly.

Design and Safety Considerations:

 Scenery construction and storage space backstage should not only
accommodate the creation of large scenery pieces and props, but also
storage for materials and tools, as well as access to the stage, often in the
form of a large overhead door. Exterior access for deliveries or for out-of-
house productions to bring in their own scenery can also be important.
  Dressing room space and restrooms for female and male performers
should be in proximity to the stage. Monitors that show what is
happening on stage help on-deck performers plan for their entrance.
 Flexible black box theater spaces, which can be used for rehearsals or
workshopping, are also becoming more popular in high school
performing arts centers.
 Proper security in all backstage areas is critical, both to prevent
unwanted guests from entering and to prevent performance participants
from getting locked out and missing their queue (when trying to use the
restroom, for example).
 The green room is typically a space where performers can stay when
they are not on stage. In schools, they often double as a classroom with
some minor theatrical equipment, like lighting, to help the performers
prepare for the stage.
 Costumes are often kept and modified to work for other
shows. Costume production shops with appropriate equipment and storage
space are important pieces of all auditoriums but are sometimes
overlooked.

Control Room at Concord High School Performing Arts Center 

Control Room

The control room is a high-tech space central to effective performances.

Design and Safety Considerations:

 Visibility to both the stage and audience is critical for proper lighting
and sound control, particularly in performances where actors may travel
 into the audience. The soundboard may be located in the middle of house
seating so the technician can hear what the audience hears and better
tune the audio.
 Theater technology has become much more advanced, turning once
manual jobs like lighting into programmed tasks. Plan for appropriate
space for the equipment and setup you need, as well as a strong internet
connection.

Catwalk at Lake Central High School Performing Arts Center | St. John, IN and
Tension Grid at Warsaw High School Auditorium | Warsaw, IN
Catwalks and Tension Grids

While technology has made stage lighting easier, you still need access to lighting
and other equipment above the stage and house. This can be achieved with
catwalks and/or tension grids.

Catwalks are walkways suspended over the house and/or stage. Tension grids
cover larger areas with suspended panels and walkable wire cable mesh, which
provide more flexibility in lighting and equipment location over the house and
stage.

Both systems are hung from the building structure and have height restrictions to
avoid obstructing the view of the stage. This means there is low head clearance.
These areas should have proper guardrails and fall prevention systems in place,
and only trained personnel should be able to access them
7 Auditorium Acoustics Considerations
September 30, 2020Acoustics, Audio
If your school, performing arts center, museum, concert hall or event venue has an auditorium,
you’re probably more concerned with acoustics than most people — and rightfully so. In an
auditorium, acoustics are extremely important.

Even if you recognize the importance of acoustics, that doesn’t mean you know how to achieve
them in an auditorium. Auditorium acoustics can be complicated to understand, but we can
break them down into seven main factors that influence the sounds in this type of space.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ACOUSTICS IN AN AUDITORIUM

An auditorium is an important gathering place for everything from routine announcements to
special performances. What all these occasions have in common is that you want the students
or attendees to hear what’s coming from the stage clearly. You don’t want that important
lecture on bullying or that vocal solo a student has practiced to sound unclear or too quiet.

You can pay attention to other aspects of your auditorium, like the quality of the seats, decor
and lighting, which are all important. However, you should never neglect one of the most
critical aspects of your auditorium: the sound. Whether you’re building a new auditorium or
renovating an existing one, acoustics should be a central focus in your design. Even if you’re not
taking on a full-scale renovation, you can still make improvements with acoustic treatments for
your auditorium.

Effective auditorium design should address the following goals:

 Speech, vocal performances and music should all sound clear rather than distorted or
echoey.
 Sounds should be loud enough for the audience to hear, including those sitting at the
very back of the auditorium.
  The right sounds should be isolated, meaning performances and speeches ring clearly
over other sounds from the room.
As we’ll see, there are many factors that affect your auditorium’s acoustics. Acoustics can be
complex, but when you find the right design, you’ll enjoy better quality lectures and
performances for your students and guests. The investment in improving your auditorium’s
acoustics is well worth it.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT AUDITORIUM ACOUSTICS

There are several aspects of an auditorium that impact the acoustics you experience in the
space. All these factors combine to create a unique acoustic landscape for every auditorium.
You can draw on an understanding of these factors to account for acoustics during the design
and building stage, or you can address problems in an existing auditorium and use acoustic
treatments to remedy them.

1. Size of the Auditorium

In any room, size has an important influence on acoustics. Size includes the length, width and
height of the room. Larger and smaller auditoriums come with their own acoustical advantages.

For instance, a small room generally won’t allow music to ring out at richly as it will in a large
room. When it comes to volume, you’ll have an easier time getting the whole audience to hear
clearly in a small room, while a larger auditorium can pose some volume challenges. This is why
you need the other aspects of a large room to contribute to good acoustics and why you need a
quality sound system.

Another concern related to auditorium size is reverberation, which we’ll discuss more below.
Larger rooms can cause longer reverberation times, which can become excessive. Smaller
rooms can cause shorter reverberation times that may seem too short, making the room feel
acoustically “dead.”
2. Shape of the Room
Like size, the shape of your auditorium will play an important role in determining the acoustics.
This is why it’s feasible to have a computer program that can reconstruct a room’s geometry
based solely on the input of one sound emission. Auditoriums come in many different shapes,
though you won’t see some shapes as often because they’ve proven to be poor for acoustics.

Generally, you want to avoid square rooms or narrow, rectangular rooms since the parallel
walls can cause sound waves to bounce back and forth continuously — creating undesirable
reverberations that muddy the overall sound clarity. This is why many auditoriums have more
of a fan shape. Some auditoriums also feature curved walls, which help diffuse sound. In
addition to the general shape of a room, other architectural features like the ceiling pitch and
structures in the room will affect the way sound waves behave in the space.

Some architects specialize in building spaces with the right shape to achieve the appropriate
acoustics for performances or lectures. If your auditorium is already built, you may not be able
to alter the shape, but you can find other ways to improve your acoustics.

3. Materials in the Room

A common problem in auditoriums is reverberation, which occurs when sound waves bounce
off surfaces and congregate. If you’ve ever attended a lecture where the speaker’s voice echoed
and made it difficult to understand what they were saying, you’ve experienced the issue of
excessive reverberation. Some level of reverberation is a good thing, especially when it comes
to musical performances, since otherwise the room will feel acoustically dead.

In a general-purpose auditorium where you want speech to sound clear and music to sound rich
and full, the ideal reverberation time — the time it takes a sound to die away — is around 1.5
seconds to 2.5 seconds.

For most auditoriums, the reverberation time will be too long unless there are sound-absorbing
materials throughout the room. This includes acoustic panels, upholstered chairs, curtains and
other soft, porous surfaces. If your auditorium is full of surfaces that are hard and nonporous,
like windows or wood floors, these materials will reflect sound waves and contribute to higher
levels of reverberation.

4. Balconies and Orchestra Pits

If your auditorium includes an orchestra pit and any balconies, these features can affect the
acoustics in the room. Balconies can be a helpful way to include more seating in a room without
lengthening the room to the point where attendees in the back have trouble hearing. The shape
and size of a balcony and the materials it includes all affect the way sound waves behave in the
room.

Orchestra pits also affect the structure and acoustics of an auditorium. Installing soundproof
curtains around an orchestra pit can help a conductor control the sound levels that emerge
from the pit.

The inside of an orchestra pit also has acoustics to consider. You want musicians in the pit to be
able to hear themselves and hear others clearly. In surveys regarding opera halls, most of the
issues people cited with orchestra pits had to do with acoustics, so it is important to design
orchestra pits strategically for the acoustics to be ideal.

5. Auditorium Use
Many auditoriums, especially those in schools and universities, are used for a variety of
purposes. This presents a challenge acoustically since the ideal acoustics for speech are not the
same as the ideal acoustics for music. This is because speech should have a shorter
reverberation time than music. You can continue to make distinctions beyond speech and
music. For example, the ideal acoustics for a cappella choral music are not the same as the ideal
acoustics for rock music.

You may be dissatisfied with the acoustics of your auditorium because you’re using it primarily
for speeches when that same auditorium would be excellent for a musical. This is part of what
makes acoustic design a complicated subject, and it’s why acoustics experts approach every
space as a unique project with its own challenges and solutions.

If your auditorium is primarily used for a certain type of event or performance, you should
factor this into your acoustic design. If you want to create a space that offers good acoustics for
a range of uses, an acoustic engineer can help you achieve that.

6. Doors and Buffer Zones

It’s also important to consider the spaces outside an auditorium and how they can affect
acoustics within the auditorium. If there are other activities, conversations or footsteps outside
that are audible inside the auditorium, this will interfere with the sounds you want the students
or audience to hear.

Doors can be a point where outside noises are let in. Solid-core doors with higher sound
transmission control (STC) ratings will do a much better job of blocking outside noises than
hollow-core doors with lower STC ratings.

Some auditoriums use buffer zones to help prevent noise from getting into the auditorium.
These are areas that lie between your auditorium and other rooms used for other purposes,
such as classrooms, restrooms or dressing rooms. These areas, which can take the form of
hallways or foyers, provide a blanket of space around your auditorium that should be relatively
free of noise and activity during a performance.

7. Background Noises
Even if you have soundproof doors and buffer zones to keep out noise from the outside, that
doesn’t mean the auditorium will sound completely silent when empty. All rooms have ongoing
noises from HVAC equipment and even plumbing pipes running in the background. In most
situations, we hear this as white noise, and it’s not much of a bother. These sorts of background
noises may not pose a problem in an auditorium if they are very quiet. However, if the air
conditioning comes on and is noisy, it will interfere with the quality of a performance on your
stage and may make it harder to understand a speaker.

Fortunately, there are solutions you can employ to eliminate these problems. Duct liners and
mufflers can help absorb sound from your HVAC system so it doesn’t bleed into your
auditorium. You can also choose HVAC systems that are quieter than others. With the right
design, you won’t have to sacrifice comfort, and you also won’t have to sacrifice sound quality
in your auditorium.