Acoustical design of the Boston University Concert Hall

Abstract

In 1957, Boston University acquired a large, five-story automobile dealership building and hastily converted it into the School of Fine and Applied Arts; the repair shop became a 450-seat concert hall, and its acoustical design was found to be unsatisfactory for all of its many uses. In 1971, the interior of the building was gutted by fire, and a crash program was initiated to rebuild it for occupancy by the opening of the Fall semester of 1972. Owing to severe budgetary limitations, only minor alterations could be made in the existing architectural parameters (cubic volume, basic geometry, etc.), while the demands for adequate sound isolation had greatly increased since 1957 because of the high levels of traffic noise caused by the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension that abuts the concert hall's north wall. The unusual variety of uses of the hall, not only for performance but also for rehearsal (including the accommodation of an 150-piece symphony orchestra), caused by the concert hall's being the only performing space currently on campus, created some striking room acoustics problems; these are discussed, and the solutions finally incorporated are described in full. The steps taken to eliminate the high levels of traffic noise are shown, including before and after measurements. Subjective reactions to the new acoustical design of the concert hall have been highly favorable.