Congregation's Acoustical Treatment Is a Miracle After Twenty Year Echo
RICHMOND, VA - Old Donation Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia has a large, beautiful fellowship hall that was rarely used after its construction in 1990. Strong echo and reverberation created by the low vaulted ceiling made large gatherings or musical performances loud and uncomfortable. Harold VanderWilt, the new Senior Warden for the grounds, decided something had to be done and contacted Acoustical Solutions, Inc. of Richmond, Virginia.
Fellowship halls are often used for services and gatherings where speech intelligibility is critical, as well as live and recorded musical performances. The irony of these rooms, like Old Donation's fellowship hall, is that their architectural design is often counterproductive to this purpose. High vaulted or cathedral ceilings and large, uncovered windows mimic the beautiful old churches that we know and love, but those buildings were made before AV equipment was available. When used with today's digital audio technology or applied to smaller rooms, these architectural elements create a very lengthy reverberation time. Reverberation time, or RT 60, is the amount of time it takes for sound waves to stop reflecting around a room and fade completely. The longer it takes for each sound to end, the harder it is to understand subsequent sounds as they build up, making it uncomfortably loud.
"We planned a lot of activities for children, but these groups would have to meet at another church, because of the background din", said VanderWilt ,"they absolutely could not be in here before the treatment". VanderWilt hired Acoustical Solutions, Inc. to custom make and install twenty four AlphaSorb(TM) Cloud Mount Panels which brought down reverberation and actually improved the look of the room.
"Acoustically, this room is exactly where we wanted to be. We were worried that the acoustical panels would diminish the architectural detail, but it looks great" said VanderWilt.
AlphaSorb(TM) Fabric Wrapped Cloud Panels answer your acoustical and aesthetic needs with their strong sound-absorbing performance, durability and elegant appearance. These hanging acoustical cloud panels are used for noise reduction and reverberation control and are available in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Standard or custom sizes go up to 4' x 10' in 1" or 2" thicknesses with various edge details. Standard color options are the Guilford fabric FR701, 2100 series line or SoundSuede fabric with designer selected fabric wrapped panels available upon request. The AlphaSorb(TM) Fabric Wrapped Cloud Panel is Class 1 fire-rated.
About Acoustical Solutions, Inc.:
Since 1989 Acoustical Solutions, Inc. has provided the detailed expertise needed to serve the noise control community. Acoustical Solutions, Inc. works with a wide variety of customers from commercial and residential development to worship facilities, recording studios and home theater designers. Acoustical Solutions, Inc. offers the industry's most comprehensive selection of noise control and soundproofing products, including a full line of indoor and outdoor industrial, commercial, environmental and architectural noise control products. For more information please visit www.AcousticalSolutions.com, call 1-800-782-5742, or see our media kit.
