FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY,

MINNA
NAME:OLUDARE FAVOUR IFEOLUWA
MATRIC NUMBER: 2019/2/76235VA
COURSE: BUILDING SERVICES (ACOUSTICS)
LECTURER: PROF. W. P AKANMU
DEPARTMENT: ARCHITECTURE
SCHOOL: SCHOOL OF EVIRONMENTAL
TECHNOLOGY(SET)
NUMBER: 3
ASSIGNMENT: CONDUCT A CASE STUDY ON THE
ACOUSTICAL CONDITION OF AN EVENT CENTRE, AND
PROPOSE A SOLUTION TO CORRECT THE ACOUSTICAL
ERROR.
  INTRODUCTION

Its obvious that the subject matter is worth to discuss. Over the years allots of observations ,
theories ,experiment and research findings are carried out just to do justices to the subject.

Architecturally , a multipurpose hall design cannot be functional if the hall does not meet the
basic acoustics requirement. This lead us to talk about MULTI COMFORT buildings that have
acoustic environments that are well- balanced, blocking out unwanted, harmful noise and
enhancing those sounds that are pleasant to the ear.

A study in 1998 found that there was up to a 66% drop in performance for a ‘memory for prose
task when participants were exposed to different types of background noise.

 ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS

Architectural Acoustics (also known as room acoustics and building acoustics) is the science and
engineering of achieving a good sound within a building. The first application of modern
scientific methods to architectural acoustics was carried out by Wallace Sabine in the fog
Museum lecture room. Architectural Acoustics can be about achieving good speech
intelligibility, enhancing the quality of music in a concert hall or recording studio, or suppressing
noise to make offices and homes more productive and pleasant places to work and live in.

Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in
gasses, liquids and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound.

CASE STUDY ON BAHAMAS EVENT CENTRE

  ADDRESS: Joseph Gomwalk Street, Beside Ajuji otel, Gudu District, Abuja |
 WEBSITE:bahamaseventcentre@gmail.com

Bahamas Event centre is the only event centre located on a penthouse of a 3 story building,
presently standing as the only penthouse event all in Abuja. Leading you up and down the
amazing hall are two lifts powered on 24hrs. In addition to the lifts are stair cases. It has state
of the art facilities, a quality built in sound system, professional lighting and movable stage with
carpeting to enhance the sound effect. It has a large parking space, fully air conditioned and a
standby generator, Banquet Tables and Chairs, projector System, Food and Drinks Service Bay,
security and surveillance system.

 FUNCTIONS such as • Conferences • Workshops • terminals • Exhibitions • Birthdays •

Trainings • meetings • Award nights • End of year parties etc. hall holds a seating
capacity of 700 for banquet setting and 2000 conference/ Seminar meting. For smaller
requirements, we have a space that holds a seating capacity of 100 banquet setting and
200 conference/seminars.
 SERVICES AVAILABLE ON REQUESTS INCLUDE: • sharing/Stewards • Catering •
Decoration • photography/ Videographer • MC/DJ • Table and hair Rentals • Decoration

• Cooling system • security • Sound System •

 Venue section showing some necessary arrangement

Space center showing arrangement of chairs

 DESIGN SPECIFICATION

The under studied Event Center is of a rectangle shape design having a rectangular raised
platform and a U- audience zone having an undulated seating arrangement of MULTIPLE roles
rows with 700 seating capacity. The hall is of has three doors leading to the internal part of the
building with no windows leading to the external part of the hall except for the control room
situated at the end of the hall having a large viewing window. It has a flat ceiling with reflectors
hanged from it in the audience zone and no provision for ceiling for the platform area but are
covered completely with sound reflectors as the major source of the noise originates there.

At both sides of the raised platform is a changing room to the right for female and to the left for
male, in between is a curtain as a barrier between the rooms. The flooring is of a concrete
material with a floor finish of carpet of good sound insulation characteristics. Sound absorption
materials are greatly used for the general surface finishing internally and the external finishing
portray an aesthetically artistic nature of the Event Center, ventilation are made available
naturally via twin flow gas system installed in the ceiling and artificially via air conditioners and
standing fans which aids to keep the room temperature cool and convenient for the users a well-
ventilated room for event.

An over-view of the hall showing sitting arrangement

Banquet room with adequate acoustic finishing, with Good sitting arrangement

 CRITICISM

the design is for this structure is manageable, reflection of what it stands for some of his
windows are glazed with tinted glass which make it very difficult for users to view the outside
world and the doors are not too wide enough to aid quick flow of movement in and out of the
building . The design of the structure is still of this century it is just some part needs renovation
we are in but should have been designed to reflect past especially because of the quality of
material used as well as the quality of the construction itself although renovations will help
keep it in good working conditions where by the renovation of the work have started by the
CCECC , Abuja , while plans are underway to scale up the event center to a standard world class
conference center’s the first of its kind in Abuja.

In the case of fire hazard, there are available firefighting equipment available and there are also
for the fire hose reel positioned just at the entrance of the hall. Fighting fire in such a large hall
will require sufficient and readily available fire extinguishers, fire blankets and automatic fire
sprinklers especially as both the wall and floor finishing are both susceptible to fire.
  APPRAISAL

Irrespective of the aforementioned flaws which I feel it exhibits, the hall is still up to at most the
normal standard of a supposed multi-purpose hall with respect to its performance. The design
shows that it can mostly be used for an event requiring a large number of audiences such as
concerts and cannot be used for ceremonials activities.

I therefore conclude that the architect is a correct architect as the design is of a good quality
which has lasted over the years and is yet to exhibit any sign of default or decline of a huge
magnitude.

My reasons are supported with some points which I discovered and are stated below;

 There is comfort regardless the fullness to capacity of the hall as it was designed in such a
way that one would most likely be persuaded and tempted to remain in the hall.
 There is also absence of parallelism between the walls, floor and ceiling as this helps to
minimize the presence of echoes.
 There is correct placement of loudspeakers within the hall using a high level system of
placement
 The multi-purpose hall is a noise free zone which exhibits clarity of speech (just as though
you are having a private chat).
 It is well ventilated with standing fans and air-conditioning and natural via (twin flow gas
systems which is a fresh air supplier and extraction networks as well as heat exchangers)
 There is also clear visibility between the speaker (platform) and the audience due to
unavailability of intermediate columns and thus encouraging concentration as well as
discouraging distractions.
 Proper use of acoustic or absorption materials as surface finishes to the floor, walls and
ceiling
 The temperature level is kept moderate to suit the number of users.
  REVERBERATION TIME OF AN AUDITORIUM:

Reverberation time T of a room can be calculated using the formula T = kV/A, …(1) where T =
reverberation time (in seconds), V = volume of the enclosure (in m ), A = Total absorption (in
sabines), and k = a constant (= 1.796 in the SI system of units).

A range of optimum reverberation times can be broadly defined for rooms on the basis of their
volumes and intended uses. A general relationship between reverberation time and good
listening effect is shown in Table 1.

A fuller or richer quality of sound is obtained in an event center where the reverberation time
for lower frequencies is greater than that for the middle and

higher frequencies. This difference in quality is, however, more generally noticeable with music
rather than

speech. On the other hand, variable sound absorption characteristics, resulting in reverberation
times varying with frequency, can interfere with speech to such extent that there can be
excessive

absorption of consonant or vowel sounds. Thus it is desirable, for general speech quality, that
the absorption coefficients of the finishes used in acoustic treatment of eventry should be as
uniform as possible over the frequency range 200-7,000 Hz.

 SPEECH IN AN AUDITORIUM EVENT CENTER:

Subtleties of speech are provided by the quality known as “presence or “intimacy”. This quality
is gained, as a general rule, by the reinforcement of direct sound with reflected waves, with a
very short initial time delay (of the order of 5 milliseconds). In an auditorium, account must also
be taken of the directional characteristics of typical speech. It is known, for example, that
higher frequency sound levels off rapidly outside an angle of about 140° subtended
symmetrically at the position of the speaker. The seats for the audience, therefore, should
ideally be laid out in a pattern falling within this sector. Speech levels achieved in an auditorium
will be dependent on the reverberation time as well as the shape and volume of the room. The
speech levels may be further enhanced by the provision of suitable reflective surfaces, where
appropriate. Ideally, the paths of direct sound waves should be as short as possible in order to
reduce the losses of sound energy in the air.

 THIS CONSIDERATION FAVOURS A COMPACT SHAPE OF AN AUDITORIUM

(a) A low volume per seat,

(b) A raised platform for the speaker, and

(c) The elimination of any physical

obstructions between the speaker and listeners.

The last condition may be provided by raked seats and the absence of columns inside the
auditorium. In the case of larger halls, even with

favorable room acoustics, the speech level may still be too low for satisfactory listening.

When this is the case, a sound amplification system can be installed to achieve a high degree of
speech intelligibility. Recommendations in this respect are, however, influenced by the type of
auditorium covered and the normal background noise levels. As a general rule, a sound
amplification system becomes desirable for high intelligibility of speech if the volume of the
background noise level is likely to exceed 40 dB. If the background noise level is appreciably
higher than 40 dB, sound amplification may be required even with smaller volumes. This is
particularly the case when the content of background noise covers frequencies in the normal
speech range, the acoustic properties of the hall are relatively poor, or the walls are treated
with sound-absorbing materials.

For acoustically well-designed auditoria with no intrusive noise, on the other hand,
considerably larger halls may prove suitable without resort to sound amplification systems.
Some specific recommendations in this respect, based on the room volume, are given in Table

2. Apart from an overall increase in sound levels, sound amplification is also be useful for other
purposes.
  CONTROL OF ACOUSTICS IN AN AUDITORIUM:

It is quite possible to provide flexible acoustics in an auditorium with the help

large-scale versatility in the building fabric, e.g., swiveling and height- adjustable acoustic
panels. The cost of this, however, becomes prohibitive as the size of the hall increases. It is
more common, therefore, to design an auditorium specifically for either speech or music.

The basic requirements for good listening are given in Table 3. Among these criteria, the
absence of background noise and optimum reverberation time can be controlled directly by
means of sound absorption treatment, and the last requirement, viz., optimum acoustic
qualities, can be largely controlled by such treatment.

In usual practice, the background noise level is rigidly controlled with the help of sound
insulation applied to all surfaces of the enclosure, as required. In this respect, the suppression
of noise from ventilating ducts may be particularly important. It may be necessary to hold-down
background noise levels to 40 dB, or less, over all frequencies within the audible frequency rang

Reverberation is the hanging on of sound after the original sound has been made.

In obtaining the reverberation time for the understudied multi-purpose hall, I took into
consideration and work with the following information’s obtained from my visitation to the hall
S/N DESCRIPTION AREA ABSORPTION
(S) COEFFICIENT
M2 @1000Hz (α) sec
1 Wooden wall finish 192 0.09
2 Concrete painted column 28.8 0.07
3 4mm thick glass on wooden wall finish 12.3 0.03
4 Lightweight curtain 65 0.17
5 Aluminium sliding glass window 2.9 0.12
6 Timber door 12.6 0.1
7 Painted block wall 254.5 0.02
8 Acoustic ceiling tiles (asbestos) 491 0.09
9 Carpet floor covering on concrete 750 0.37
10 Ply wood panel reflectors 245.5 0.09
11 People seating 0.45each
Table2 Bahamas Event centre Abuja.

Calculating the reverberation time when the hall is empty.

0.16 𝑉
𝑅𝑇 =
𝐴
Where; RT = reverberation time in seconds
V = volume of the hall in m3
A = acoustic units in the hall

𝑉 = (18 𝑥 13 𝑥 6) + (𝜋 𝑥 12.52 𝑥 6) = 4350𝑚3

𝐴 = (192 𝑥 0.09) + (28.8 𝑥 0.07) + (12.3 𝑥 0.03) + (65 𝑥 0.17) + (2.9 𝑥 0.12)
+ (254.3 𝑥 0.02) + (491 𝑥 0.92) + (245.5 𝑥 0.09) + (12.6 𝑥 0.1)
+ (750 𝑥 0.37) = 788.724
0.16 𝑉 0.16 𝑥 4350
𝑅𝑇 = = = 0.88 𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝐴 788.724
Assuming that when the hall is full, a shading of the floor by the audience effectively reduces its
absorption by 40%.

Therefore calculating the reverberation time when it is full.

𝑉 = (18 𝑥 13 𝑥 6) + (𝜋 𝑥 12.52 𝑥 6) = 4350𝑚3

𝐴 = (192 𝑥 0.09) + (28. .8 𝑥 0.07) + (12.3 𝑥 0.03) + (65 𝑥 0.17) + (2.9 𝑥 0.12)
+ (254.3 𝑥 0.02) + (491 𝑥 0.92) + (245.5 𝑥 0.09) + (12.6 𝑥 0.1)
+ (750 𝑥 0.22) + (800 𝑥 0.45) = 1036.224
0.16 𝑉
𝑅𝑇 = =
𝐴
RT=0.16{4350}/1036.224=0.6716694.

 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the reverberations time both when the hall in fully occupied and empty are well
within the optimum reverberation time required for an Event center. So the design Structure
satisfied the range of acoustics requirement . and it is functional .
REFERENCES

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Policy.
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 M. Oberdörster, G. Tiesler, Modern school acoustics. A complement to the book Don’t limit your
senses, Sound and the Learning Environment, Saint-Gobain Ecophon, (2002).
 J.E. Dockrell, B.M. Shield, British Educational Research Journal 32, 509 (2006).
 www.indiaessays.com/essays/india/noise-pollution/auditorium-reverberation-time-speech-and-
acoustics/1198