Created by measuring more than 70 prestigious concert halls and opera houses and using over 15 years' research to calibrate 3D models and validate the accuracy of a predicted sound environment, the SoundLab enables the listener to experience the sound of a space or potential space as never before. Listeners can compare the same orchestra playing Handel's Water Music in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, or in the Musikverein, Vienna, fully enjoying and understanding the subtle differences between the acoustics of each hall. They can also listen to a new concert hall design and compare it directly to the world's best concert halls.
The technique can also be applied to a wide range of acoustic design issues commonly found in buildings, enabling the client to understand the problem and determine the investment needed for reaching the optimum solution. It is possible to optimize the speech intelligibility of a sound system in a large reverberant space, listen to the reduction in aircraft or road traffic noise using various types of glazing construction - or auralize the effect of a train passing under an isolated or non-isolated building.
Rob Harris of Arup Acoustics comments: "We can actually demonstrate why a space needs to be a certain form. Before there was an element of trust involved, but now we can let architects listen to why a change in shape will improve the quality of sound. Before it was a black magic but now it's accessible to everyone. SoundLab's real value is that it allows an understanding of what the boundaries are in design terms so we can design better buildings. In addition, it allows clients to make value judgements on acoustic qualities by using a subjective comparison of alternative building elements."
SoundLab is currently being used on a new baroque concert hall in Boston, USA, the Sage Music Centre in Gateshead, UK, which is due to open later this year, the new opera house in Oslo, the British Library Sound Archive Studios and Florence Railway Station, as well as several stadia worldwide.
(Lee Baldock)
