Developments in the Acoustic Design of Concert Halls from the Royal Festival Hall,London,to the Segerstrom Hall,California *

Abstract

Research over the last forty years has resulted in many new factors being considered in the acoustical design of concert halls. In this paper a brief account is given of this research and how halls designed since the nineteen fifties have been progressively influenced by this work. The Segerstrom Hall in California is an example of a hall where acoustical considerations have been given great importance at all stages of the design process and a team of consultants has ensured that recent research findings have been applied to good effect. The design approach is discussed and model experiments performed in the course of the design process are described. Finally the results of objective and subjective measurements carried out in the completed hall are described.