Sketch Series: Accessing Acoustics

For the sketch series we were to download a sound meter/decibel reader on your on your smartphones, for example Sound Meter Lite. Develop a sound map using the sound meter of any floor on the Gatewood Bulding, except the fourth floor. The floor plans are available on Canvas. Note the materials and textures, reverberation time, echo and their relation to the acoustical environment at different times of the day and week.  Annotate them on the floor plan.

The acoustic assessment took place on Tuesday around 5 pm. During this time, there were not many people around to raise the noise level. What we did notice from our assessment was that the sound was louder around the walls. The sound of the air was bouncing off the walls making it louder standing there than if you stood in the middle of the room. The north stair way was louder than the south stairway because you could hear the echo of the art students on the first and second floor rising up to the third floor where the decibel was taken. The areas shaded in blue on the floor plan were quieter than the rest because the noise of the air conditioning wasn’t as noticeable, therefore it was not bouncing off the walls. It was also quieter because there were no people in these areas to make noise. The areas shaded in red or purple were the loudest because there were people in the spaces to create noise. Especially in 2nd year’s studio space. Here they were louder and with the open concept of our space, the noise reverberated around this studio.