Case study: Acoustic tuning of the new DePaul University School of Music Concert Hall

Abstract

The Holtschneider Performance Center in Chicago packs an enormous program onto a limited urban site. The largest of the four performance halls in this new home for DePaul University's School of Music is the 535-seat Concert Hall. In response to a limited footprint and a broad program of performance types, Kirkegaard devised a simple but innovative acoustical approach to the room. A single massive plaster cloud hovers in the center of the hall, supporting onstage communication and providing first reflections to the audience. The large gap between the cloud and the perimeter walls integrates the extensive volume above the ceiling with the main volume of the hall. Extensive banners above the cloud are intended to “turn off” the upper volume, effectively converting the hall from a concert hall to a recital hall. More conventional curtains and banners below the cloud allow further fine tuning of the room's acoustics. The Concert Hall is well isolated acoustically from the rest of the 3 storey music building and exterior city noise by 18” thick concrete walls, concrete roof, and a continuous structural acoustic isolation joint.