East Side High School in Gainesville, FL was renovating their school auditorium. As part of the renovation, the school decided that the auditorium would require acoustic treatment. The project was put out to bid and Commercial Acoustics was invited to provide the bid for sound absorbing panels. After providing the bid and a site visit to the space, our firm was contracted to fabricate and install about 200 acoustic panels in the school auditorium. Commercial Acoustics was able to offer competitive pricing and shorter lead times than other acoustic firms bidding on the job, making us the best choice for it.

School Auditorium Acoustic Treatment

Auditoriums typically require acoustic treatment due to their large size, high ceilings, reflective finishes, and the need for voice amplification during events. These combined factors typically result in a high reverb time and excessive echo in the auditoriums where speech intelligibility is crucial.

In a multi-purpose auditorium such as the one at East Side High School, target reverb time (RT60) ranges between 1.3 and 1.9 seconds. If the school hosted a lot of lively events in there, they would want to be closer to a 1.9 second reverb time. In a less lively, multi-purpose auditorium mostly used for assemblies or guest speakers, the reverb time should be closer to 1.3 seconds. The same is true in restaurants, for example, lively restaurants should have a higher reverb time (less acoustic treatment) and intimate restaurants should have lower reverb times (more acoustic treatment).

Benefits of Auditorium Acoustic Treatment

Our installation team traveled to Gainesville, FL and installed 92 2’x4′ panels and 98 2’x2′ panels over the course of 4 days. The sound absorbing panels were wrapped in Guilford of Maine acoustically transparent fabric that coordinated with the school’s colors. Although no reverb test was performed before the installation, it was evident after the installation was completed that the panels significantly reduced the echo within the space.

If your multi-purpose auditorium struggles with echo or reverberation issues, consider Commercial Acoustics to design and install Acoustic Treatment options, including Acoustic Wall Panels or Stretched-Fabric Wall Systems.