Author(s)

SHAIMAA ABOU SHOUSHA, TAREK FARGHALY, IBRAHEM MAAROF, ONSY ABDELALEEM

Abstract

In concert halls, interaction between music and features of the hall happens continuously. As the concert hall is considered a box full of sound reflections and waves which get reflected all the time from and to every surface in the hall. However, most concert halls are not in the ideal state to achieve the optimum experience for the attendees in terms of sound quality. The most common reason is that they were designed for multiple different purposes such as conferences or speeches. This research aims to study the effect of material characterizations and surface treatment; such as porosity, absorption and reflection, and their effect on the sound quality in concert halls. This research consists of two parts: Part one is a review of concert hall design principles and the materials used in its furnishing and finishing, plus a review of every advantage and disadvantage of most used materials. The second part is a case study on a conference hall turned to a main concert hall in Bibliotheca Alexandrina, where sound measurements took, and software application was held after suggesting some changes to surface treatment and coatings in that hall. The results of the research have proven that changing surface treatment and coatings can help positively in turning any hall to a concert hall and enhancing it’s the sound quality.

Keywords

materials characterization, surface treatment, coatings, concert halls, seats materials, wall coatings, sound absorption, sound reflection, experimental techniques, computer sound simulatio