Acoustics of the Border Cultural Centre in the neighbourhood of Palermo, city of Buenos Aires, Argentina

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1 Acoustics of the Border Cultural Centre in the neighbourhood of Palermo, city of Buenos Aires, Argentina Roberto Daniel Ottobre, Marcelo Ottobre, Agustín Arias, and Guadalupe Cuello Citation: Proc. Mtgs. Acoust. 28, (2016); View online: View Table of Contents: Published by the Acoustical Society of America Articles you may be interested in Multiplex cinema halls: Design and construction of six halls in the city of Mar del Plata Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 28, (2017); / The effect of training in producing continuous vowels with a data-glove-driven vocal tract configuration tool Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 29, (2017); / Deblurring acoustic signals for statistical characterization in applications of ocean acoustic tomography Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 29, (2017); / Acoustical renovation of Nuestra Señora de la Paz Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 28, (2017); / The acoustics of the concert hall Auditorio Juan Victoria from San Juan, Argentina Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 28, (2017); / Analysis of lightweight acoustic reflectors Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 28, (2017); /

2 Volume nd International Congress on Acoustics Acoustics for the 21 st Century Buenos Aires, Argentina September 2016 Architectural Acoustics: Paper ICA Acoustics of the Border Cultural Centre in the neighbourhood of Palermo, city of Buenos Aires, Argentina Roberto Daniel Ottobre, Marcelo Ottobre and Agustín Arias Ottobre y Ottobre Arquitectos, Asesores en Acústica, CABA, Argentina; arq.daniel@ottobreyottobre.com.ar; arq.marcelo@ottobreyottobre.com.ar; agustinarias@ottobreyottobre.com.ar Guadalupe Cuello Estudio Cuello, CABA, Argentina, mgarq@estudiocuello.com.ar The independent theatre, i.e. the one formed by groups of actors without the representation of an entrepreneur, has a long history in Buenos Aires. In addition to this cultural expression, numerous musicians and other disciplines form groups with diverse and widespread artistic expressions. A group of small halls located in narrow terrain lots is concentrated within the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, designed to accommodate these artistic groups. However, there was no model hall that can hold simultaneous events, such as drama, music and dance, in the same building. Such hall should avoid acoustical interference between the events, and should fulfill the noise regulations of the City. The architectural design of the Border Cultural Centre, which begins from spaces shaped by natural light, with large openings to the outside, was a challenge for the acoustic consultants since the above acoustic requirements should be also fulfilled. The acoustic project of the theatre is presented, where the various solutions adopted to meet the acoustic requirements are shown, respecting and completing the decisive architectural concept. Published by the Acoustical Society of America 2017 Acoustical Society of America [DOI: / ] Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 1

3 1. INTRODUCTION The Border Cultural Centre is a new art space located in the neighborhood of Palermo, consisting of a theatre, music and dance rooms, plus an art school and a restaurant. The design of this complex building intended to create, perform, and promote different artistic expressions with unique, impressive and meaningful experiences. The building concept envisaged several simultaneous activities including amplified music and speech. The intended programs are: Bar: background music on both floors. Theatre: musical bands and theatre performances with or without amplification. The particular requirement is that the sound must be able to run from the outside for the shows held in the garden. Music Room: music with or without amplification. Dance Room: practice and dance performances with amplified music and voice In order to hold the activities simultaneously, the sound insulation between the rooms should avoid acoustical interference between them. Moreover, the noise emission level to neighborhood should be reduced according to the noise regulation of the City of Buenos Aires to prevent noise conflicts between neighbors and owners of the venues. Figure 1. Sectional plan of the building. The building project took account of the natural light that reaches the interior. Figure 1 visualizes the sunlight between the maximum and minimum solar declination, including the equinoxes. Airflow and ventilations were also considered. As can be seen in Figure 1, the entrance hall is located on the ground floor. The ground floor courtyard is visually and functionally connected to the stage of the theatre. The foyer access to the main room and the bar are located on the first floor. On the second floor, the ballet and music rooms are linked through an open courtyard. Figures 2 to 4 show the views of the theatre, dance and music rooms, respectively. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 2

4 Figure 2: View of the theatre. Figure 3: View of the dance room. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 3

5 Figure 4: View of the music room. 2. SOUND INSULATIONS The Argentine standard IRAM provides reference values for the sound insulation according to the type of activity. However, it does not indicate the insulation characteristics of the partitions for the performance activity. Thus, it was necessary to collect important literature that provides guidelines for each activity. 2 Table 1. Recommended values for the sound insulation. Division type Sound insulation index R w Dividing wall with neighbors 65 Horizontal partitions between rooms 65 Horizontal partition (terrace) 60 s or partitions of the rooms to urban spaces 55 s or partitions of the rooms to inwards 50 Windows to the outside 50 Dividing wall with neighbors 65 The target value of the sound insulation and its implementation ensured the simultaneous events without any interference. This situation has been verified since the opening of the theatre. Furthermore, it was necessary to limit the background noise level by the air conditioning systems. Annex A of IRAM determines the acceptable noise limits under unoccupied condition. The background noise spectrum at any octave-band frequency should not exceed the NC profile for each type of room. These limits are listed in Table 2. The final background noise levels should be checked with the air conditioner or fan operating at full capacity. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 4

6 Table 2. NC profile target for each room. Type of Room Profile Theatre NC Conference room NC Public Areas (circulations) NC In addition, the acceptable noise emission levels to the neighborhood were determined to comply with the noise regulations of the City of Buenos Aires. 4 5 A. PARTITIONS OF THE UNDERGROUND MACHINE ROOM This insulation project designed an inner box inside the machine room to isolate the masonry from the mezzanine slab. The purpose of this insulation is to minimize the transmission of noise generated by the pump in the machine room to the major halls. The ceiling and walls of the inner box consists of a cementitious board of 10 mm thickness placed on a profile structure sheet BWG 24 for fixing a gypsum board of 70 mm thickness. The space between the above materials is filled by glass wool of 70 mm thickness and 35 kg/m 3 density. The ceiling of the room is suspended by using anti-vibration mounts. The entire surface of the walls and ceiling are covered with glass wool of 50 mm thickness and 35 kg/m 3 density and then finished by a perforated plate to protect the glass wool. Figure 5 shows the insulation design. Perforated Plate thk. 70mm 35 Kg/m3 thk. 50mm 35 Kg/m3 Slab Fixation MASON support Wire n 16 Tensor fixation Wire (Tensor) Troweled thick plaster Galvanized perforated structure 70mm Cementitious board thk. 10mm MACHINE ROOM Retention crossbar of sheet plate thk. 50mm 35 Kg/m3 Perforated plate cealling Perforated Plate Cementitious board thk. 10mm thk. 70mm 35 Kg/m3 Figure 5: Sound insulation design of the machine room. MACHINE ROOM B. PARTITIONS OF THE THEATRE The left and right panels of Figure 6 illustrate the insulation design of the stage and the audience sidewalls in the theatre, respectively. Two types of insulation were used due to space requirements in the audience. The stage sidewalls consist of a type-c profile structure (150 x 80 mm) with 10 mm lower wing of 2 mm thickness installed on the dividing wall. Double gypsum boards of 12.5 mm thickness are placed on this profile structure that is filled by a layer of glass wool of 70 mm thickness and 35 kg/m 3 density. This glass wool layer is in the middle of the profile and is supported by thin galvanized wires. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 5

7 The audience side walls consist of a structure for gypsum boards, made in caliber sheet BWG 24, with a nominal of 54 mm thickness was placed on the dividing wall with triple gypsum boards of 12.5 mm thickness. An acoustic barrier was installed behind the first two boards. The air gap between the gypsum boards and the dividing wall was filled by a glass wool of 50 mm thickness and 35 kg/m 3 density. This structure of the three gypsum boards is tilted into the room with angle of 5 degrees, above 1.20 m from the floor. Acoustic barrier 3 mm Drill 1 4'' Two Gypsum board Three Gypsum board thk. 70mm 35 Kg/m3 thk. 50mm 35 Kg/m3 Outside Stage Outside Theater "C" Profile 150/80/10/2 mm Galvanized structure thk. 54mm Three Gypsum board Troweled thick plaster Troweled thick plaster Figure 6: Sound insulation design of the theatre. Left: Stage wall. Right: Audience wall. Figure 7 shows the detail of the floating floor of the dance room above the theatre. This floor was designed with extreme caution to avoid any rigid contact between the floating slab and the partition walls, which causes the transmission of impact noises or sound of dragging furniture to the neighboring terrain. In the theatre, the ceiling structure was suspended from this floor structure. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 6

8 Dance room Floor Partition armor Polyethylene100 mic - thk. 20mm Armed underlayment thk. 7 cm. Levelling carpet Slab Three Gypsum board Fixation Wire n 16 Rigid glass wool panel thk. 70mm(50+25) 70mm 35 Kg/m3 Troweled thick plaster Galvanized structure thk. 70mm Perforated gypsum board thk. 12,5mm Gypsum board thk. 12,5mm Theater Three Gypsum board Figure 7: Sound insulation design between the theatre and the dance rooms. C. PARTITIONS OF MUSIC AND BALLET ROOMS The sidewalls of the dance room have the same insulation design as the stage sidewalls of the theatre (Figure 8, left panel). The rest of the partitions uses the dividing walls with the additional double gypsum boards of 12.5 mm thickness. In addition, BWG plate caliber 24 with a nominal thickness of 70 mm was installed behind the gypsum boards. The air gap between the gypsum boards and the dividing wall was filled by glass wool of 70 mm thickness and 35 kg/m 3 density. The partitions of the music room are illustrated on the right panel of Figure 8. They are composed of dry walls and C-type structure profiles (100 x 60 mm) with a 10 mm wing of 1.2 mm thickness. On these profiles, two gypsum boards of 12.5 mm thickness were placed on one side and three gypsum boards of 12.5 mm thickness were placed on the other side. A layer of glass wool of 70 mm thickness and 35 kg/m 3 density is installed inside the air gap. D. FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS Very thick laminated glass windows and frames with double contact closures and sealing were designed. The wooden doors with an estimated surface mass of 25 kg/m 2, using closures that ensure insulation R w 42 db. Finally, acoustic screens for the insulation of the air conditioning noise were installed for noise protection at the neighborhood. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 7

9 Three Gypsum board Fixation Slab Wire n 16 Sanitary stairs 70mm 35 Kg/m3 Music room Rigid glass wool panel thk. 70mm(50+25) 70mm 35 Kg/m3 Gypsum board thk. 12,5mm Two Gypsum board Troweled thick plaster Galvanized structure thk. 70mm "C" Profile 150/80/10/2 mm Two Gypsum board Dance room Figure 8: Sound insulation design for the dance room (Left) and the music room (Right). 3. ACOUSTIC TREATMENTS Table 3 shows the target reverberation time according to the recommendation for each activities. 6 Table 3. Target reverberation times for each hall. Room RT [s] Theatre 1.0 Dance Room 0.6 Music Room 1.2 The reverberation time of the theatre, occupied by 2/3 of its capacity, was calculated by a computer simulation with the E.A.S.E. software (Figure 9). For necessary absorption on the ceiling of the theater, a layer of glass wool with 70 mm thickness and 50 kg/m 3 density was installed behind perforated gypsum boards. The same configuration of the glass wool but covered by coated fabric was installed on the theater back wall close to the entrance/exit. The acoustic absorption of the dance room was obtained by a tensioned and perforated PVC ceiling with a layer of glass wool 50 mm thickness and 50 kg/m 3 density placed behind. For the music room, the decision was not to add any absorbing material due to the limited size of the room and the insulation properties. This decision satisfied the desired reverberation times without inconveniences. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 8

10 Figure 9. Reverberation time calculated for the theatre. As shown in Figure 10, the results of STI for the theater shows an average value of 0.61, classified in the grade of "Very Good" for intelligibility. 7 Figure 10. STI calculation for the theatre. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 9

11 4. CONCLUSIONS The owners of this enterprise made a noteworthy effort to address the acoustics in an economically difficult environment. They not only created a building that responded to advanced environmental requirements, but also invested in sound insulation. This investment went beyond the functional needs of the complex to consider environmental noise pollution, which often causes numerous conflicts within neighborhoods. The insulation design applied in each room allows simultaneous performances without interference, as it has been verified by the owner and the artists. They also verified for the acoustic treatment applied in each room, which results to be satisfactory. REFERENCES 1 IRAM 4044 Standard, Protección contra el ruido en edificios. Aislamiento acústico mínimo de tabiques y edificios, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Recuero López, M.; Gil González, C. Acústica Arquitectónica, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, IRAM 4070 Standard, Ruidos. Procedimiento para su evaluación utilizando los perfiles NC y RC. Buenos Aires, Argentina, Law Nº 1540, Control de la Contaminación Acústica en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires, Argentina, Decree Nº 740-GCBA-07, Regulatory Decree of the Law N 1540, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Recuero López, M. Acondicionamiento acústico, Paraninfo, Madrid, Spain, Rudolf Ahnert. EASE 3.0 Reference Manual, ADA Acoustic Design Ahnert, Germany, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 28, (2017) Page 10