Acoustic Comfort in Church Auditoria a Case of Citam Church Designs at Ngong and Parklands, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Church auditoria are an extreme example of multipurpose rooms. A good speech intelligibility is necessary for understanding the spoken word, and an adequate reverberation is desirable for music. On the other hand, the acoustical features that make a space suitable for speech are frequently the same as those that make the space unsuitable for music, and vice versa. Room volumes and reverberation times should be kept low for optimum speech intelligibility. Rooms intended for music, on the other hand, demand high volumes and longer reverberation times. A compromise is therefore necessary for the best musical ambient without affecting speech intelligibility. Given the foregoing, acoustic requirements for church auditoriums should always be considered from the start of the design process. Although changes can be made at mid and end stages of design, changing form, room heights, and adjacencies within structures is usually quite difficult once spatial relationships and budgets have been established. Defects in completed spaces, likewise, are often difficult and costly to fix. For instance, the addition of an electronic sound-reinforcing system in an excessively reverberant church auditorium may accentuate deficiencies rather than enhance the listening conditions. These acoustic problems are avoidable if designers understand the basic principles of church auditorium acoustics. A successful design is one that provides spatial relationships, cubic volumes, and appropriate geometry for church buildings maintain design quality while best serving their intended purposes. The primary goal of this study is to provide a tool for designers and church leaders to understand the critical issues associated with evangelical auditorium acoustics. This information can be used to either evaluate and make improvements to existing spaces or in the design of new spaces. The CITAM church auditoria at Ngong and Parklands are selected as representative case studies of Pentecostal church auditoria in Nairobi...............................................................................................