When it comes to building designs, auditoriums and theaters tend to have the most complex requirement of having to tmaintain thermal comfort and quality sound. When a theater fills with people, the amount of heat that pervades within can reach high levels. The use of different lightings when presenting live shows for different settings or production numbers can also add to the heat rise.
As theater performers acoustically perform, controlling background noise is just as important as using sound amplification equipment. However, while the issue of thermal comfort is often discussed in the planning process of a building, the acoustics aspect are often overlooked in theater or auditorium planning.
Acoustics in a building’s interior is of course important as it can affect sound quality, which is true not only in theaters but also in venues used as concert halls or for conferences or large classrooms.
What Commercial Roofing Connecticut Contractors Say About Theater Roofing Methods
Commercial roofing contractors based in Connecticut usually recommend employing the sandwich-like method of assembling roofing materials as a means to maintain excellent acoustic qualities. This type of assembly includes outer layers consisting of thick and heavy material whilst filling the structure’s airspaces. The filling materials can be different and combined uniquely to create different levels of sound isolation. A typical assembly may comprise materials such as gypsum board, acoustic ceiling tiles or roofing boards in combination with concrete as rigid insulation.
In the past, structures that are susceptible to sound transmissions use thick and dense materials. This stands opposite to using thin and flimsy materials for roofing systems, since they easily transfer exterior sounds like that of a heavy downpour, through the interior. As a solution, if the material is not enough to block off external sounds, professional roofers usually add drywall to make the roofing system much thicker.
What Factors Affect the Acoustics of Theater Structures?
The acoustics of a theater is conditional to different criterias such as sound transfer, sound reflection, sound isolation, and impact noise. In instances where the location of a theater is amidst an urban area filled with noise, blocking off outside noises such as honking horns, sirens and overall traffic din, is needed.
The transfer of sound from external sources depends on what envelopes the theater, including the materials used for roofings, windows and external walls, while the degree of sound isolation varies.
Hard exteriors such as roofs, walls, and floors reflect sound waves that can produce echoes inside the building. To reduce, if not totally eliminate echoing sounds, soft, light materials can absorb the sound waves reverberating inside the building.
Walls and roofs in auditoria or cinemas usually use materials like compressed fibreboard and draperies to lessen sound wave reverberations. Reverb or reverberation is an occurrence when a prolonged sound reflects or bounces on different surfaces inside an enclosed space.
