Acoustics treatment for university halls

Abstract

This paper aims to solve one important problem while designing halls with domes in universities such as a central lobby of Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Sharjah. Most architects consider aspects/factors of esthetics, form, function, and to some extent sustainability besides illumination, but in general they drop issues of acoustics from their designing phases. The absence of sound quality and clarity of speech in the central hall of AE Department has led to non-comfortable sound environment for conducting some activities such as juries and exhibitions. Listening to a person giving his/her presentation or talk could be difficult due to the large volume of the space, finishing materials inside the building, and the effect of the dome that causes an excess amount of reverberation time (RT). This paper discusses various factors that affect sound environment such as building shape, volume, and materials. Using REVIT and ECOTECT model in the simulation, the study could suggest alternatives to the existing building scenario. Furthermore, an ideal combination of various techniques has been proposed to achieve economical and acoustical aspects.