This building will house local, state and federal government offices including Bremerton's city government offices.  Our goal was to provide proper room acoustics supported by a well-designed sound/video system to achieve the ideal environment for effective, clear communication.

Scope:  To create the ideal environment for communication within the main council chambers by allowing good intelligibility of both speech and amplified sound systems. We developed design criteria for the space and designed solutions to enhance the environment of the chamber, including HVAC noise control and sound isolation to the adjoining spaces. 

Challenges:  The ideal acoustic environment needed to be met while maintaining the architect's vision for the space-a 360-degree glass oval. We needed to design the space to allow minimal reflections to control reverberation times while maintaining speech intelligibility, and preventing sound energy from being focused from the curved walls.  

Solutions:  We needed to evaluate the room order to minimize the impact of foci created by the room's concave geometry.  This process involved building a computer model to evaluate and control the effects of mechanical noise, and to design the space to support its functions. 
Our recommendations, included wall/ceiling treatments and furniture to control reflectivity of the surfaces.  Interior treatments included high-end absorption for the ceiling as well as absorbing wall panels behind council seating. Based on the planned HVAC system for the chamber, we designed recommendations to meet the established noise criteria for HVAC system as per ASHRAE guidelines.