St.
Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church Cookeville, TN
St
Thomas Aquinas has a volume of 151,000 cubic feet. The
mid-band RT60 value was determined to be 3.95 seconds. A comfortable
RT60 value for a space this size should be 1.5-2.5 seconds, so ASC
went to work on a design. To keep costs under control, ASC combined
standard as well as "surgical" acoustics. The standard
approach uses a set quantity of absorptive materials in order to
adjust the reverberation to acceptable levels. The surgical solution
involves strategic placement of specialized products so that acoustic
problems are solved closest to their sources, in the most cost effective
manner, and most specifically for the room’s main uses.
Lay Parishioner Dan Drab worked with ASC's Church
Engineering team to craft the perfect acoustic package. Mr. Drab
had this to say:
"The installation of the SoundPlanks is complete
with great success. It seems the echo was reduced by about 50%.
It was a sufficient reduction that many church members commented
on the positive results and said they could hear much better.
At some point soon we will do another balloon test to more accurately
measure the results. My thanks to everyone at Acoustic Sciences
that assisted in this project.
. . . We are very satisfied not only in the echo
reduction but also in how the SoundPlanks look on the wall. Thanks
again for all your help."