Architecture Commons^™

Framework Development For Evaluating The Impacts Of Nursing Home Acoustics On Older Adults, Brian J. Puckett

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

Nursing homes are complex, multi-faceted environments which provide necessary medical supervision and housing for older adults in need of long-term care. With cognitive and sensory impairments being common adversities faced throughout the aging process, research is needed to better understand characteristics of the built environment which may contribute to difficulties for nursing home residents. Noise, in particular, has been shown to be problematic for nursing home residents in a variety of ways including disrupting sleep, associating with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, and leading to increased readmission to hospitals due to verbal communication misunderstandings. As the older adult population …

Parametric Acoustics, Joseph Wiggins

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The design of acoustic spaces depends on many factors such as the size and shape of the room, the materiality of the walls and ceiling, and the type of sound in the space. When designing a room for music performance, the reverberation time, sound reflection, and sound diffusion are also main factors to design around. The issue when designing optimized acoustic spaces is that it is hard to test out the acoustic performance during the design process. Since size, shape, and material of the space all affect the sound quality, digital simulation is one of the only ways to test …

Airtime: Integrating Acoustics Into The Design Process, Daniel Richardson

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Background

As part of the sensory experience, acoustics serves an important role in facilitating the social functions of a space. The acoustic response of a space plays a part in determining its social atmosphere, as well as how it functions for certain occupancies (eg. clarity in a classroom, projection on a stage, fullness in an orchestra). The acoustics of a space is determined by the assembly and materials of its envelope, as well as the occupation within. Commonly, specific acoustic solutions like panels, foam, or sound batt insulation are used to manage or treat the acoustic qualities of a space. …

An Exploration Of Architectural Acoustics And Design In Commercial Recording Studios, Mariana Henke

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Recording studios depend largely on architectural design to determine the sound characteristics of their space. Developing a series of industry standards and best practices will facilitate the design, construction, and material selection for commercial recording studios. Every aspect of a studio's construction will contribute to the space's acoustical characteristics: noise pollution, floors, ceilings, walls, HVAC systems, and acoustic treatment. In combining best practices from each, studio designers can establish ideal sound conditions within a recording studio environment. These established industry standards and best practices will be applied to a proposed recording studio design in order to further demonstrate an understanding …

Design Factors Affecting Music Students' Practice Duration And Quality In Higher Education, Aiyana Demmons

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this research is to help determine practice room design guidelines to increase music students’ practice duration and quality in higher education. The Foy Building music practice rooms on the Statesboro campus of Georgia Southern University are being used as the basis for this research, as these spaces are used daily by music students to practice their instruments. The study population for this research was music majors and minors, as these individuals are the main users of the practice room spaces. The research design consisted of two phases- one qualitative and the other quantitative. An initial online questionnaire …

Studying Acoustical Characteristics Of Occupied Restaurants, Jared Paine

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

Sound level data and occupancy data have been logged in five restaurants by the research team at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Sound levels and occupancy at 10 second intervals were documented over time periods of roughly two hours during active business hours. Noise levels were logged with dosimeters distributed throughout each restaurant, and occupancy was obtained from images recorded by infrared cameras. This work presents data on average sound levels and statistical metrics, such as L10 and L90 values as well as on each restaurant’s Acoustical Capacity and Quality of Verbal Communication, as introduced by Rindel (2012). Acoustical …

Generating Acoustic Projections Using 3d Models, Jake A. Brazelton

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Raytracing is used in commercial graphics engines most commonly for lighting effects, but it also has many uses when it comes to acoustic simulation. Adopted directly from these computer graphics programs, the formulas presented herein enable the visualization of acoustic intensity levels throughout a 3D space using Python 3 and the OpenGL library. In addition to visualization, they also provide the ability to calculate the reverberation time and critical distance of an enclosed space in relation to its size and material makeup. The described application bundles all of these components together in a Qt5 application that allows users to view …

A Phenomenological Approach To Performance Architecture Through Light And Acoustics, Bree Chambers

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Throughout history, performances, the fine arts, and music have brought society together to persuade, inspire, and bring to light the pressing issues of their time. The Roman’s used the coliseum to distract their people with games and spectacles from political instability and famine. The Greeks performed in open amphitheaters to communicate tragic stories of morality. I want to influence the entertainment of our time, that is music festivals, from America’s first 1954 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island to 1969 The Woodstock Aquarian exposition reported 500,000 people in attendance. Festivals are an escape from a conventional society into a counterculture …

Application Of Effective Noise Control Strategies In Speech Perception Testing Rooms, Samuel H. Underwood

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This project examines experimental methodologies, common test practices, and identifies relevant acoustic metrics to determine effective noise control parameters and strategies for implementation in a new speech perception testing room in Lincoln, Nebraska. The nature of speech perception testing demands that the experiment facility be as quiet and non-disruptive as possible to ensure that auditory stimuli is not interfered with. Influences of ambient acoustic conditions, like background noise and reverberation time, interfere with speech perception testing by introducing new variables that are often difficult to account for if left uncontrolled. A room-in-room chamber (sound booth) is often a best-case practice …

Explorations Of Acoustic Trends In Data Logged In K-12 Classrooms, Kieren Smith

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

The classroom environment influences the ability of children to learn. To ascertain the effect of indoor environment parameters on student achievement, a large-scale project was launched, collecting time-logged data from 220 k-12 classrooms in the eastern Nebraska region for six days each. Data were collected from a variety of disciplines, including acoustics, lighting, indoor air quality, and thermal comfort. This thesis focuses on the acoustic parameters, looking first at how overall classroom values--including average sound levels and room reverberation time--influence student achievement. Using structural equation modeling, the average sound level during times with speech present was discovered to have a …

Evaluation Of Hospital Soundscapes To Improve Patient And Staff Experience, Jay Bliefnick

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

Hospital soundscapes can be difficult environments to assess acoustically due to the continuous activity within units. Routinely, patients perceive these soundscapes poorly when rating their hospital experience on HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) surveys administered after discharge. In addition, hospital staff can be negatively impacted by the acoustical environments in which they work, affecting both performance and job satisfaction. This doctoral research addressed these issues across three phases by collecting acoustical measurements within three individual hospitals, comparing results with provided patient and staff survey information, and conducting laboratory tests of hospital noise perception. In the first …

Meandering Structures | A Theatrical Take On Sonorous Environments, Jamilah-Renay Bouges

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This project studies the distinct patterns of sound created by specific activities on our day to day lives. Ways in which these sounds travel and impact the receptor will directly influence how this project performs and reacts to a given source's stimuli. Once this is understood, the environment of the final proposal will be more easily manipulated into a reflective and absorptive form which molds itself in order to provide more adequate clarity to its audience. This flexible form is applied as an interior skin for a travelling theater supplying a myriad of performing arts and musical acts as determined …

Perception Of Spatial Impression Due To Varying Positions Of The Source On Stage, Sungbeen Cho

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

The listener’s surrounding environment affects the perception of sound. The environment includes physical factors such as space size, shape, and finish materials, and psychological factors such as individual difference of impression, and vision. Acoustic spatial impression can be defined as the concept of the type and size of space at which a listener arrives spontaneously when he/she is exposed to an appropriate sound field. This thesis analyzes how physical factors in enclosed spaces affect the acoustic spatial impression, and how sound sources at different positions on stage are perceived in different shapes of spaces.

First, existing spatial impression parameters, IACC …

How Tonality And Loudness Of Noise Relate To Annoyance And Task Performance” Noise Control Eng. J. 65(2), 71-82., Joonhee Lee, Jennifer M. Francis, Lily M. Wang

Lily M Wang

Audible tones in noise generated by building mechanical equipment can be a leading cause of complaints from occupants. A number of metrics have been developed to quantify prominence of a tone, but previous work has shown that the impact of a certain tonality appears to vary with the level of the broadband noise signal. More work on how tonal signals of varying tonality, tone frequency and broadband noise levels relate to annoyance and task performance is needed. This paper investigates such relationships between current noise metrics, annoyance and task performance under assorted tonal noise conditions through subjective testing. Participants rated …

How Tonality And Loudness Of Noise Relate To Annoyance And Task Performance” Noise Control Eng. J. 65(2), 71-82., Joonhee Lee, Jennifer M. Francis, Lily M. Wang

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Audible tones in noise generated by building mechanical equipment can be a leading cause of complaints from occupants. A number of metrics have been developed to quantify prominence of a tone, but previous work has shown that the impact of a certain tonality appears to vary with the level of the broadband noise signal. More work on how tonal signals of varying tonality, tone frequency and broadband noise levels relate to annoyance and task performance is needed. This paper investigates such relationships between current noise metrics, annoyance and task performance under assorted tonal noise conditions through subjective testing. Participants rated …

How Acoustics In California High Performance Schools Relate To Student Achievement, Devin K. Wong

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

This research project seeks to determine if students attending K-12 schools meeting a minimum standard of high performance classroom conditions in the state of California do evidence higher scholastic achievement, based on publically available results on state-wide standardized tests. In three phases, a subset of 200+ schools applying for grants dedicated to building high performance schools over the past decade was correlated with an existing database of achievement scores for all public schools in California. The criteria utilized to specify high performance classrooms was provided by the California High Performance Initiative (HPI) Grant program. Academic achievement was evaluated on a …

Acoustic Management Of Library Fishbowls, Zachary J. Lilley

Materials Engineering

The purpose of this project is to aid the Cal Poly Robert E. Kennedy library in modifying the “fishbowl” study spaces to more effectively maintain the desirable sound that is generated within the fishbowls while avoiding the entrance and exit of excess noise to and from the fishbowls. A collaboration between the Materials Engineering Department and the Architecture Department provided the combined expertise needed to design, test, and install a prototype acoustic treatment in fishbowl 216-R in consultation with the Cal Poly Library as the voice of the customer. The fishbowl’s undesirable acoustic properties can be attributed to the hard …

Design And Optimization Of Membrane-Type Acoustic Metamaterials, Matthew G. Blevins

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

One of the most common problems in noise control is the attenuation of low frequency noise. Typical solutions require barriers with high density and/or thickness. Membrane-type acoustic metamaterials are a novel type of engineered material capable of high low-frequency transmission loss despite their small thickness and light weight. These materials are ideally suited to applications with strict size and weight limitations such as aircraft, automobiles, and buildings. The transmission loss profile can be manipulated by changing the micro-level substructure, stacking multiple unit cells, or by creating multi-celled arrays. To date, analysis has focused primarily on experimental studies in plane-wave tubes …

Quantification Of Time Varying Directivity Of Musical Instruments, Madeline A. Davidson

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

Static directivity patterns of musical instruments have been mapped somewhat extensively, but little research has been done in analyzing the directivity patterns of musical instruments over time as they play. Directivity patterns can be affected by variables such as instrument, frequency, dynamics, and style. This thesis proposes a set of quantification methods of time varying directivity, all derived from the maximum Directivity Index analyzed at consecutive short-duration time windows comprising the musical excerpt. The instrumental recordings used in this paper are taken in an anechoic chamber using either a 5, 13, or 32 multichannel setup. From the values of maximum …

Effect Of The Physical Environment On Teacher Satisfaction With Indoor Environmental Quality In Early Learning Schools, Stuart Shell

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

While the quantity and quality of teacher-child interactions plays a key role in emotional and cognitive development for children, there is scant evidence regarding the contribution of physical environment to child outcomes. This study seeks to understand better the relative importance of variables within the physical environment for occupants. The research design targets teachers’ satisfaction with the physical environment as the outcome variable, based on the assumption that teachers who are more satisfied with their classroom provide higher-quality interactions with children. Teachers from two early learning schools with a total of 31 classrooms completed a written survey that asked about …

Acoustics Of The Louis Armstrong Theatre, Bailey Groendyke

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

Like many multipurpose auditoriums, the Louis Armstrong Theatre (LAT) at Grand Valley State University has been reported by a considerable number of students and faculty to have unsatisfactory acoustics for music performance. This study focused on physical measurements and simulated changes to LAT. Reverberation time (RT) was measured by filling LAT with sound and measuring the decay for select frequencies as per ASTM E2235 protocol, and the initial time delay gap (ITDG) was determined using slapsticks as an impulsive sound source. A model of LAT was also constructed from blueprints and physical measurements; simulations using this model were conducted using …

Beyond Vision: Designing For The Deaf, Kristen Charters

Architecture Thesis Prep

I propose a Deaf/Hearing Cultural Center as a means of testing these relationships. The center would enable the increased awareness of Deaf culture by the Hearing population while providing a space for the Deaf community. The varied programs of a cultural center would enable the investigation of a sensory architecture in combination with the social aspects of being Deaf.

Augmenting The Third Teacher, Christina Hoover

Architecture Thesis Prep

This thesis explores the formal and material design potentials of the school and contends that for it to adapt to the needs of today’s techno-centric youth, dynamic and responsive materials should be integrated to enhance the environmental quality of spaces for a child’s developmental benefit.

What Studios Do, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

This essay is focused around a seemingly simple question – what do recording studios do? First, a clarification. I am not primarily asking “what are studios” or “what do people do in studios,” two comparatively straightforward questions that are tangentially addressed in academic and trade writing. Rather, I wish to consider some of the ways in which the studio itself shapes the kinds of social and musical performances and interactions that transpire within. I contend that studios must be understood simultaneously as acoustic environments, as meeting places, as container technologies, as a system of constraints on vision, sound and mobility, …

Building The Soundscape In The Age Of Visual Distraction - Audio/Visual Supplement, Jack Solomon

Architecture Senior Theses

"This project demonstrates how implicating the soundscape within the visual primacy of design can produce a richer architecture for facilitating awareness, discourse, and learning."

Audio/Visual supplement to the thesis presentation and book.

Building The Soundscape In The Age Of Visual Distraction, Jack Solomon

Architecture Senior Theses

"This project demonstrates how implicating the soundscape within the visual primacy of design can produce a richer architecture for facilitating awareness, discourse, and learning."