KazLAACE

(Kazakh leading academy of Architecture and Civil Engineering)

Almaty 2022

Palace of schoolchildren
(science and technology)
in Almaty

by Azizova Diana

Presented for the faculty of the Architecture

Major: Special Architecture Programm

Supervised by professor Giangabriele Fini

 Introduction

In this section, we will take a closer look at the aspects of acoustics, making an
approximate calculation of the reverberation in the auditorium for 1197 people (large option),
which will be located in the designed building.

In a closed room after the termination of the sound source, the listener perceives the
sounded musical or speech signal for a certain time interval.

This is explained by the fact that the sound pressure level (SPL) created at the calculated
point is an integral characteristic of the energy of direct sound and the energy of sound waves
reflected from the surfaces of the room. The process of decay of sound energy is called
reverberation.
process, and the phenomenon itself - reverberation.

To quantify reverberation, the concept is used - reverberation time, which should not depend
on either the individual hearing threshold or the initial signal level, and which he defined as
the time during which the initial signal energy decreases by a million times (or decreases by
60 dB)

Proper reverberation time, which characterizes the overall boominess of the room, is one of
the important conditions for good hall acoustics. It should be remembered that in order to
achieve a well-defined reverberation time, sufficient diffuseness of the sound in the hall is
required.

Reverberation time is the first and one of the main characteristics of the premises, depending
on the volume of the room and the overall sound absorption.

The halls are usually trapezoid in plan with the opening angle of the sidewalls of 5-12
degrees.

A rectangular shape with a horizontal ceiling is acceptable only for lecture halls with a
capacity of no more than 200 people.

The allowable delay time for speech is 20-25 ms (milliseconds), for music - 30-35 ms, for
multifunctional halls - 25-30 ms.

When constructing a longitudinal section of the hall, it should be taken into account that the
rise of the floor should be 12-14 cm per row in the stalls (the pitch of the rows is at least 90
cm), on the balcony the rise is 25-30 cm per
row.
The direct sound range is 8-9 m for speech and 10-12 m for music. In this zone, amplification
of the direct sound with reflections is not required. In this regard, in the zone of radius direct
sound should not get any first reflection. In other places, intense first reflections should cover
the entire zone of visual places.
 Recommended parameters of various halls

Type of the hall Maximum V m3/person Maximum length (to

capacity per person proscenium) m

Lecture and conference 400 4-5 24-25 (20)

rooms

Music and Drama Theaters 1200 5-7 28-26 (25)

(operetta)

Opera and ballet theaters 1500 6-8 30-32 (30)

2000 10-12 42-46

Halls for choral singing
and organ music

Cinema halls 4-5 45 (in summer 60)

Multipurpose 500-1000 4-6 30-34 (32)

An example of a theater hall

Chamber Hall of Classical Music in Nagaoka

Location - Nagaoka, Japan
Capacity: - 700 seats,
Air volume of the hall: 9500 m

Total area: 3300 m

Stage area: 134 m

Hall shape in plan: Oval

Reverb time
T 500-1000:
Empty 1.9 sec
Full 1.8 sec

Decoration Materials
Ceiling: Plasterboard with 3 layers of fiberglass.
Bottom wall: wooden board.
Top wall: gypsum boards with 2 layers of fiberglass.
Floor: 50 mm wooden board on concrete;
 For a more illustrative example, and for using these calculations later when designing
an auditorium for the schoolchildren's palace, I drew a trapezoidal plan of the hall in which I
will calculate the reverberation rate, and understand whether it is sufficient and corresponds
to the standards.

It is required to develop a project for the auditorium of the drama theater for 1137 seats.

We accept the specific volume of 5 m3 / person, in these conditions the volume of the hall
will be V = 5×1137 = 5685 m3.

We accept the proportions of the hall in l = 1,5; n b = 1,4, in this case the width of the hall в
=1,4h, l= 1,5b = 2,1h. Hall volume V = 2,1h × 1,4h × h = 2,94 h3 ;

5685 = 2,94h3 ; h = 12,5 m.

We accept the height of the hall h = 12.5, while the width of the hall is h = 1.4 h = 1.4 × 12.5
= 17.5 m, the length of the hall is l = 1.5v = 1.5 × 17.5 = 26 .25 m

We adjust the length of the hall, taking into account the fact that along the length of the hall 2
m is occupied by the proscenium, 1.5 m by the passage in front of the proscenium and 1.2 m
by the passage in the center of the hall. It takes a row spacing of 0.9 m, then the number of
rows will be n = (26.25 - 2 -1.5 -1.2) / 0.9 = 23.9.
We accept the 23rd row, the length of the hall will be l = 23 × 0.9 + 2 + 1.5 + 1.2 = 25.4 m.
Similarly, we adjust the width of the hall, taking the central aisle 1.3 m and the width of one
chair 0.5 m

The number of seats in a row averages (17.5 -1.3) / 0.5 = 32.4. We accept 32 seats, the width
of the hall will be 32 × 0.5 + 1.3 = 17.3. After adjustment, the volume of the hall is V =
17.3×25.4×12.5 = 5492 m3. At the same time, the specific volume Vsp.= 5492/1137 = 4.8
m3, which is quite within the norm.

So, in the stalls we have 23 rows of 32 seats (on average), i.e. 736 people are accommodated
in the parterre, 401 seats must be provided on the balcony.

We accept the opening angle, then the expansion of the hall on each side will be tg 5 × l =
0.08748 × 25.4 = 2.26 m, we accept 2 m.

We accept 12 rows on the balcony, which will be the removal of the balcony 12 × 0.9 = 10.8
m. The width of the balcony in the front will be 21.3 - 2 tg 5 × 10.8 = 17.4 m. We accept 2
passes on the balcony 1.85 m wide, then the number of seats in the row is 17.4 -1.85 / 0.5 =
31, and in total 31 × 12 = 372 people will be accommodated on the balcony. In total, 29
people remained, for them we will make 2 balconies on the side walls for 15 people.

Checking the sound delay time: T app. = (Lneg. - L straight) * 1000/340

It varies in plans up to 30-35 m/s, in a section up to 25-30 m/s.

In plans T.zap in t1 = 14 m/s

T. add. in t2 = 25 m / s

T. add. in t3 = 23 m / s

By section:

T. add. in t1 = 27 m / s

T add. V t2 = 33 m/s (the ceiling must be raised)

T add.V t 3 = 30 m / s

The optimal reverberation time for a hall volume of 5492 m3 is = T500 1.09 seconds. Let's
adjust the recommended reverberation time for frequencies of 125 Hz and 2000 Hz. For
speech halls, it is recommended not to change the reverberation time at a frequency of 2000
Hz, but at a frequency of 125 Hz, reduce it by 15%. We get:

T125 = 0.935 s

Т500/2000 = 1.09 s
 Surface S 125 500 2000

Walls (marble) 354,8 m2 0,01 3,548 0,01 3,548 0,01 3,548

Ceiling 363,2 m2 0,02 7,264 0,02 7,264 0,04 14,59

Floor (wood) 44,3 m2 0,02 0,886 0,03 1,329 0,04 1,772

Scene 20,27 m2 0,2 4,054 0,3 6,081 0,3 6,081

Soft seats 183,7 m2 0,25 45,9 0,4 73,48 0,45 86,665

Viewer 30% 78,7 m2 0,15 11,805 0,15 15,14 0,2 23,61

S com. = 1044 m2

А125 = 73,457 d (alpha) =0.076 -ln(1-d) = 0.079

А500 = 107,442 d =0.103 ln(1-d) = 0.108

А2000 = 132,82 d = 0.126 ln(1-d) = 0.134

T125 = 10.85 s

T500 = 8.32 s

T2000 = 6,3 s
 On this diagram you can see the reverberation from the angle and it’s direction

Thus, it can be deduced from the resulting study that the reverberation rate should not exceed
a given area in order for the audience to be comfortable.

You should also choose a certain type of finishing materials, since all this affects the
acoustics in the designed auditorium.