The National Steeplechase Museum is like venues in that it provides exactly the right look and feel for its purpose—in this case, promoting and educating folks about steeplechase horse racing—but its acoustics create unforeseen challenges.
Specifically, the museum intended to use its multi-purpose room for, well, multiple purposes before being derailed by poor acoustics. There was so much echo and reverberation in the room, it was practically impossible to use.
The issue, caused by hard surfaces everywhere (hardwood floors and gypsum walls and ceilings) created a cacophony of echo which made it impossible to hear the PA system and strained conversations. The race was on, literally, to get the intelligibility in the venue fixed before their next event.
Photos: Check out before and after pics
The museum’s executive director Catherine French met with Columbia , S.C.-based integration firm Acoustical Design, LLC. “We were on a short timeline,” says Acoustical Design’s Frank Ward, “so we took the measurements later that same day. We used EASE simulation software and modeled several solutions. We then looked at a total amount of acoustical treatment needed and checked to see which manufacturer could deliver the needed materials quickly enough to get the project completed on time.”
They ultimately chose acoustic panels from Primacoustic‘s Paintables line.
“The panels are an innovative, high performance, 6lb glass-wool acoustic panel that feature a specially formulated porous, breathable, textured, latex surface that may be repainted to match any color scheme,” says Primacoustic’s Steve Dickson.
“The Paintables are fully encapsulated with a woven fiberglass mesh and features resin hardened edges to create sharp, architecturally appealing lines. This balanced formulation enables the panels to be spray-painted without affecting the acoustic performance or [in this instance] installed in their stock white finish.”
More from Primacoustic’s press release on the project’s tight timeline:
Because of the tight timelines and by request of the client, Ward did not include adjustments to the existing PA system in his modelling. A decision was made to correct the acoustics and then fine tune the PA system set up as necessary. The reverberation time in the room was a highly problematic 2.3+ seconds at 100 Hz so getting that under control was the key to making the room as impressive acoustically as it is aesthetically. Ward explains: “We decided to mount the panels parallel to the ceiling plane. This would optimize the acoustical improvement and also maintain the décor of the room. We used our proprietary mounting system that allows the panels to be mounted parallel to the ceiling but not mounted directly to it. This optimized the acoustical impact of the panels and provided a flatter frequency response for the room reverberation.”
“I was most pleased that the whole project was installed in only one day. We took a team of six people and started around 8:00 in the morning. By 5:45 that evening, the work was complete. This included installation, along with progress testing for measurements that were needed throughout the day as work was completed.”
More from Primacoustic‘s press release on final adjustments:
Once the installation and testing was complete, Ward determined that although the loudspeakers were not ideally located, the improvement that the acoustical work provided was sufficient to overcome the placement. “This is not always the case, but this time we were fortunate. Sometimes a significant improvement is enough to make things work well enough to move forward.” The museum’s Catherine French agrees and adds: “This should have been a part of the original plan for this building rather than an after-thought but we got it done and I am extremely happy with the results.”
