SH Acoustics was invited to do the acoustic design work in this theater at a later stage than we normally come into a project, so we had to make the existing footprint work to fully contain the room’s sound. The team was able to use space-conscious techniques to execute on this goal while still getting the full isolation needed. Spaces surrounding the lower level isolate the theater from the adjacent gym and other play areas. 

This was also one of the few residential theaters that involved extensive metal as a design element. Luckily, we have significant experience using metal from our acoustic design work in commercial spaces. “The use of metal did not phase us at all. We worked with metal meshes and expanded metal that we’d used in the performing arts world,” says SH Acoustics’ Steve Haas. “Not only did it let the sound transmit through, it didn’t rattle or vibrate. We had done design like this many times before in multi-purpose performance theaters, but this was the first residential theater that used metal to an appreciable degree. We were able to marry our two worlds of experience—commercial and residential acoustics—together for an incredible sound experience.”