Architectural Physical Acoustic Environmental Design Transformation of Academic Lecture Halls in the Universities—Taking the Hall of School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Yunnan University as an Example

Abstract

In recent years, multi-functional lecture halls have developed rapidly and become a symbol of contemporary public spaces and places. This kind of spatial facility that brings together the advantages of land intensiveness and multi-functional integration also faces feedback such as poor acoustic effects. However, current research rarely involves the architectural design perspective, which is actually the root consideration of this problem; that is, how to set up corresponding spatial layout measures to optimize acoustic performance in a relatively economical and simple way. This study uses the academic lecture hall of the School of Architecture and Planning of Yunnan University as a case to try to solve these problems. The research is based on holistic considerations, starting from site selection, architectural design, aesthetic considerations, and environmental noise assessment, and combining simulation results with actual measurement results. Using a prediction–comparison–verification method, key acoustic parameters such as speech intelligibility, loudness, and reverberation time were calculated and evaluated to understand the acoustic design problems of the hall. The study found that the out-of-control reverberation time was the main cause of poor acoustic feedback, and based on this, optimization and transformation were carried out from an architectural perspective. Finally, a renovation suggestion was made that the application of sound-absorbing materials on the rear wall can achieve better acoustic effects inside the hall. Among the space combination methods, the combination of “rear wall, central ceiling, and front ceiling” has the best effect. Practical insights are provided for improving the acoustic performance of the multi-functional lecture halls while taking into account the acoustic design and feasible requirements.

Keywords

• multi-functional lecture halls
• acoustic environment
• architectural design
• acoustic restoration