The Publishing House Experience for The First Church of Christian Scientist (TFCCS) is the main visitor center introducing people from all over the world to the fundamental concepts and beliefs that entail Christian Science. A variety of galleries and experiences draw heavily on the need for excellent acoustic control and specialized immersive-audio delivery. SHA was brought in to work with both the base building and exhibit/media teams to ensure sonic excellence throughout.

The 30-foot-high Welcome Hall atrium incorporates both new acoustic systems digitally-imaged to replicate historic stained-glass skylights, complete with LED mesh lighting, acoustic treatment, and loudspeakers above a dual fabric ceiling. The two modes of the Welcome Hall include special events and a three-dimensional soundscape, both of which required SHA’s unique blend of acoustic, audio-delivery, and media-optimization design.

The most famous experience in the Publishing House is the three-story Mapparium, which is essentially a stained-glass globe with all the acoustic focusing effects one would expect standing on a bridge at the “equator” of the globe. In order to allow for a new-media program that included narration to be intelligible, SHA employed precise audio-delivery techniques with a custom calibration to deliver sound that “is remarkably impressive to all our visitors,” according to TFCCS leadership.