project: St. John's Episcopal School

location: Dallas, Texas

Overview

The expansion of St. John's Episcopal School included new classrooms, new performance hall, new gymnasiums, and new administrative offices. After the school opened, it was apparent that many acoustical issues needed to be addressed. Encore Design Group was retained by the Owner to provide an analysis of the existing acoustics, identify problematic areas, and provide recommendations. Problems found were excessive reverberation in the Gymnasium, noise penetration from the Gymnasium into the Administrative Suite that sits above the Gymnasium, and acoustic anomalies within the Performance Hall.

Gymanasium

As acoustical treatment can prove to be a significant dollar item, the Owner chose to address the Gymnasium issues first. We found that the reverberation within this space was so excessive, that it proved quite difficult for teachers and students to hear one another during class. We provided acoustical cacluations and provided the owner with appropriate wall and ceiling treatments to successfully reduce the reverberation. In addition, we identified a number of areas where noise was penetrating through the ceiling and walls of the Gymnasium into the Administrative Office above. The correction of these issues is still ongoing based on our analysis and recommendations.