Collaborative Tech Systems Design Workshop from Acoustic Dimensions on Vimeo.

One of the things about designing spaces for live performance is that it give you an appreciation of the power of art. 

This summer, Acoustic Dimensions, had the privilege of hosting the Global Design Alliance at our offices in Dallas.  As part of the experience, we invited the participants to spend an evening at Theatre166—one of our projects—immersed in music, video, light and art.  David Rodriguez created a painting live during the event.  It was amazing to watch a piece of plywood transform into a painting about the joy of light and music in the course of two hours.

Even better is that the piece now hangs in our Dallas offices as a reminder not only of the event, but of why we do what we do.

Acousticians have a challenge that few outside the industry may be aware of…and it involves a starter pistol.

During acoustic testing, sometimes you need a big omnidirectional sound source to measure the reverberation time of a space.  The noise needs to be louder than absolutely everything else.  It needs to be impulsive.  (No time to escalate.)  And it needs to stop almost immediately.

In testing smaller spaces, you can blow up a large balloon and pop it.  As you might imagine, this is no fun if there isn’t any compressed air handy. (Or an intern—as some of our crew remember from their college days.)  But in a large space—say an auditorium or an arena—the popping of a balloon, simply isn’t loud enough.

Enter the starter pistol.

It is loud, omnidirectional, impulsive and the sound falls off immediately.  Seemingly, it is a perfect solution…except that storage is awkward, you can’t own one without a license in New York, you can’t take it on a plane, and apparently—as we learned this week—you can’t order “blanks” in Texas.

On the upside,  testing with a starter pistol has a Mythbusters sort of charm.  We used it in our testing for CUMC this week.  If you look closely you can see the “smoking gun.”

And if you think using starter pistols present an interesting dynamic, don’t even get us started talking about the use of yachting cannons… (No, that is not a punchline.)

 

One of the fun parts of being a consulting firm is that you have access to gear. We frequently perform testing of the latest professional audio, video and lighting products under varying conditions to test specific products out for project applications.

This week after hours, our lighting team in Dallas tested several outdoor LED fixtures comparing them to conventional incandescent fixtures. A benefit to LED fixtures is that they typically use far less energy than incandescents, but they still have to perform in the areas of output, maintenance and color temperature.

David Stephens, Jason Foster, and Craig Janssen followed the testing (that's Jason with a light meter to the left) while Dan Schoedel photographed the results.

(The images with the uplighting were particularly amusing since they all looked as if they were telling ghost stories around a campfire. )

This week, Mantel Teter Architects and Bethel Church of Crown Point, Indiana were in our offices for a rapid prototyping exercise.

In 48 hours, we toured facilities, confirmed programming, then went through full schematic design as decisions were made interactively with the architect, client leadership, and acoustics, audio, video, lighting and staging designers for Acoustic Dimensions.

The real-time feedback of having all of the disciplines in the room at the same time allows the process to move much more quickly than traditional processes where much of the work is done by individual team members in their own offices. Not only that, but it also allows people to work in parallel process without misdirection as conflicts in design are revealed and resolved quickly.

While rapid prototyping of facilities is an intensive process, it can also be a lot of fun. Not only is there the energy of collaboration with a team of people working toward a common goal, but it is also satisfying to both client and design team to get to solid deliverables in a focused, concentrated amount of time.

Of course, you don't get through a process like this without some burning of midnight oil, and there was definite appreciation by all for espresso this morning after working so late into the evening morning.

Whenever we go through a rapid-prototyping exercise, we always ask the client for feedback on the process. Steve DeWitt--the senior pastor at Bethel--had the following input: "Overall I found the experience to be extremely positive. I’ve been involved in four major building projects and this was a first for me. I am very pleased with the product that we are taking home with us. It is remarkable what we were able to get done in essentially 48 hours."

Pastor Steve also had valuable input on scheduling and the information that we provide ahead of time which we will use to adapt and shape the process going forward.

This morning, when Craig Janssen stepped into the office, he paused for a moment and said, "I continue to be amazed by the people we work with."

(Sidebar: "Me too.)

AD had the opportunity to celebrate multiple project openings this month: Sullivan Performing Arts Center, the Village Church, Lovers Lane United Methodist Church, World Outreach Center, Champion Forest Children's Building, and the Rockwall-Heath High School Performing Arts Center.

If you've ever been on a construction site about to open, you know that everything centers on timelines and details. All of the trades are onsite all at once working to beat the clock for opening day.

Because AD is a multi-disciplinary firm, we have multiple disciplines on site as well. In addition to "punching" the project (testing to make sure everything is installed properly and creating a punch list for the owner) our audio team works to EQ systems to get the tonal responses correct. The lighting team focuses lights and programs the console. Video calibrates projectors and balances cameras. Acoustics verifies operation of door seals, checks that isolation is in place and takes measurements to verify noise criteria while identifying any problem areas that need to be addressed.

As you might imagine, it is almost impossible to tune a sound system or listen for noise and vibration with drills, nail guns and movement of scaffolding in play, so we tend to wait until the other trades have left for the evening to begin our work. This makes for many late night/early morning meals at Waffle House or Denny's as the team makes their way back to the hotel to catch a few hours of sleep before heading back onsite again.

There is something about being on site in the weeks before a new facility is about to be unveiled. Among the trades, design team and client there are alternate moments of panic and joy as all the final details come together. Being part of this "opening day" energy forms strong relationships--not just between the members of our team, but also with architects, contractors, integrators and clients.

It can be a fairly exclusive club, because the only way you are invited back for the next job is if you did an excellent job on the first one.

It also helps when you are one of those people who work hard with a smile on your face. (Even when a site crew sticks you with the pink hardhat because you were the last one there so you could get some peace and quiet to tune the system.)

Our team in San Diego recently led a Technical Systems Design Workshop for a church client building a new 2000 seat sanctuary. As with many worship facilities, the desired functionality for the space was multi-faceted. The goal of the workshop was similar to rapid-prototyping in that the entire design and contracting team was assembled and worked through acoustics and technical systems concepts, engineering, coordination and accommodation in a workshop atmosphere.

At the end of the three days, all the major decisions were made resulting in systems that not only met the design goals but also fit within the client's budget. By the last meeting, the church team stated that they could not be more pleased with the results. They left the workshop having accomplished their goals for the space and saved valuable time in the process. Sounds like time well spent!

Five rooms in two days was ambitious, but when WPH Architects and Essex Alliance Church joined us in our offices Sunday evening through Tuesday morning, the results were impressive. The church's ministry team, Todd Phillippi and Jeff Harris, Paul Rouis of Ryan-Biggs Associates (structural engineer), and John Stetson of Engelberth (preconstruction services) rolled up their sleeves and we all went to work on the rapid prototyping of the church's new worship center, youth facility, lobby and children's worship spaces.

And the process was amazing.

At one point, Jason Foster moved a post to improve the aesthetic of the lighting. Paul let him know that it wouldn't work. "What would work?" Jason asked. The two then collaborated to acheive the result while maintaining the structural integrity. The architect agreed and the decision was a "go." The best part is that the process of making the change took five minutes rather than multiple meetings and a report.

The dynamic of having all of the members of the design team--including the contractor--as part of the interaction with the client and creating a structure where they can provide real-time input and give immedate feedback is powerful.

At the end of the session, the client left with renderings, the architect left with the 3-D models and Courtney McGinnes, Craig Janssen, Vance Breshears, Jason Foster, Casey Sherred, Jason McKelvey, David Stephens and Dan Schoedel left to go home and get some sleep.