Identifying trends in worship space acoustics: 3 decades of design

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2018-09, Vol.144 (3), p.1772-1772
• Main Authors: Ahrens, Stephanie A., Ryherd, Erica E., Ronsse, Lauren M., Bradley, David T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.5067836

Worship Space Acoustics: 3 Decades of Design—published by the Acoustical Society of America in 2016—is a book rich with detailed acoustic and architectural information for 67 worship venues with diverse acoustic designs. The venues represent a range of worship space types, various geographic locations around the globe, an assortment of architectural typologies, and a variety of sizes (including seating capacities ranging from 100 to 21,000). This project aimed to synthesize the acoustic and written content presented in the book in order to identify design trends across the 67 venues. Qualitative data included venue typology, location of materials, sound system design, floor plate and room shape, intended use of space, and noise sources, which were mined and analyzed using text analytics software. Quantitative data included reverberation time, background noise level, seating capacity, and room volume. By compiling the various qualitative and quantitative data across all venues, acoustic data and design strategies were synthesized to illustrate popular trends in worship space acoustic design over the last three decades.