FSU College of Business — Tallahassee, Florida
| Project | Location | GC | Scope |
| FSU College of Business | Tallahassee, FL | Culpepper | Ceilings, Metal & Fabric Wall Panels |
Project Overview
Florida State University’s new College of Business Legacy Hall building represents one of the most ambitious academic construction projects in the university’s history. Spanning multiple stories, the facility features a dramatic multi-story atrium, large-format lecture halls, flexible classroom spaces, and collaborative student areas—all designed to support a world-class business education program. Commercial Acoustics was brought on to furnish and install a comprehensive acoustical package that would address the unique challenges of each space while complementing the building’s striking architectural vision.
Scope of Work
The building’s design presented a range of acoustical finishes. The grand atrium, with its soaring ceilings and hard-surface finishes, was susceptible to excessive reverberation that could render the space uncomfortably loud during peak occupancy. Lecture halls and classrooms required precise speech intelligibility so that every student could clearly hear their instructor. Meanwhile, the building’s modern aesthetic—featuring exposed structures, floor-to-ceiling glass, and wood-paneled accent walls—left limited conventional mounting surfaces for acoustic treatment. Each space demanded a tailored solution that balanced sound control with design intent.
Goody Clancy Architecture out of Boston, MA included a wide range of acoustical finishes, from fabric-wrapped panels in the Commons to Perforated Metal Panels in the Atrium, and high-NRC acoustical tiles in the classrooms and lecture halls.
Products
Commercial Acoustics deployed a multi-product acoustical strategy across the entire facility, coordinating closely with the general contractor to sequence installations around ongoing construction activity.
Gordon Origami Metal Ceilings: The building’s signature spaces feature custom perforated metal ceiling panels from Gordon’s Origami line. These panels serve a dual purpose—delivering high-performance sound absorption through their perforated pattern and acoustic backing while creating an eye-catching geometric design overhead. Installed throughout the atrium-adjacent lounges and upper-level gathering areas, the Origami panels transform what would otherwise be hard, reflective ceiling planes into effective absorptive surfaces.
Backlit Metal Panels: Select areas incorporate backlit metal ceiling panels that combine ambient lighting with acoustical performance, adding visual warmth to corridors and transitional spaces without sacrificing noise control.
Acoustical Ceiling Tile (ACT): Five distinct ACT product lines were specified across the building to address the varied acoustical requirements of classrooms, lecture halls, and support spaces. Product selection was driven by each room’s target reverberation time, ceiling height, and aesthetic requirements, ensuring optimal speech clarity in instructional environments.
Conwed Fabric-Wrapped Wall Panels: Large-format fabric-wrapped panels from Conwed were installed at key reflection points in lecture halls and classrooms. These panels provide critical mid- and high-frequency absorption, reducing flutter echo and improving speech intelligibility where it matters most.
Results & Impact
The completed installation delivers acoustical comfort across every major space in the building. The atrium maintains a vibrant yet controlled sound environment even at full capacity, while lecture halls and classrooms achieve the speech clarity expected of a top-tier university facility. By integrating acoustic performance directly into the building’s architectural finishes—metal ceilings, specialty tiles, and fabric panels—the project demonstrates that sound control and design excellence can work hand in hand.
Products Furnished & Installed
| Product | Application |
| Gordon Origami Metal Ceilings | Atrium lounges, gathering areas |
| Backlit Metal Panels | Corridors, transitional spaces, elevator lobby |
| Acoustical Ceiling Tile (5 types) | Classrooms, lecture halls, support spaces |
| Conwed Fabric-Wrapped Wall Panels | Lecture halls, classrooms, break-out rooms |
