Room acoustics form the critical link between a talker and a listener. With or without a sound system, the level of direct sound, the reverberation time of the room, and the early / late reflections, will determine the sound character and speech intelligibility in a room. Where the room is intended for support of live music for performance, broadcast or recording, these factors are equally critical for the satisfaction of the musicians and the listeners.

We provide acoustical design for spaces where speech intelligibility and musical character are important. We set the acoustical criteria based on the intended use of the space, and then recommend acoustical treatment, finishes and room shaping to optimize the acoustical performance. Where there is a sound system involved, the acoustical design and the sound system design are tightly tied together. The cost of the sound system can rise rapidly if the acoustical design is not optimized. There are many instances where the acoustical treatment is a higher priority than the sound system, especially in retrofits or renovations.

The proper acoustical design of arenas, churches, classrooms, court rooms, council chambers, lecture theatres, drama theatres, recital halls and swimming pools can make a tremendous difference in the comfort level and enjoyment of the people using those spaces. We might even go as far as to say that it can make the difference between a usable and unusable space.

The acoustical design is also critical where the listeners are very young, or have a hearing impairment or where English is a second language. The acoustical design of classrooms is absolutely critical to the quality of learning for thousands of people in all levels of education.

We make use of computer aided design in the development of room design, but are not reliant on it. Like all modelling methods, it is limited in its absolutely accuracy, but is a valuable device to help develop a design. We also make use of TEF time-domain based measurement systems to properly evaluate the acoustical performance and the objective speech intelligibility of a space.