Two potentially critical food courts were selected from a group of twelve of such eating establishments, and sound pressure levels (SPLs) were measured and analysed with regard to acoustic quality. Initial measurements of background noise with the food courts almost empty revealed high SPLs in such places. Measurements taken with varied number of users showed an increase in SPLs in accordance to the cocktail party effect, ending up in values of 75 dBA and 81 dBA for each food court. Design aspects of the courts were discussed in order to improve the acoustical quality.
HodgsonM.SteiningerG.RavaziZ.Measurement and prediction of speech and noise levels and the Lombard effect in eating establishments. Journal of Acoustical Society of America121(4), 2007; pp. 2023–2033.
2.
AstolfiA.FillipiM.Good acoustical quality in restaurants: A compromise between speech intelligibility and privacy. 18th International Congress on Acoustics (18th ICA), Kyoto, 2004.
3.
NavarroM.P.N.PimentelR.L.Speech interference in food courts of shopping centres. Applied Acoustics68(3), 2007; pp. 364–375.
