Q&A: EHDD's Duncan Ballash on Why Sound Matters in Architecture

Ballash: Joe Esherick founded EHDD in San Francisco in 1946 after moving west from the East Coast. His goal was to develop architecture that was appropriate to the region—its weather, lifestyle, and culture. This resulted in buildings designed from the inside out with an emphasis on the user experience. Since style was not a consideration, Joe focused on light, connections to the outdoors, how spaces would be used, and how they would perform as environments for people.

Ballash: As an institutional architecture firm, most of our clients’ missions focus on advancing civilization in some way. As we’ve been imbedded in our clients’ visions over the years, EHDD’s mission has evolved to be in line with our clients’ goals of making a better world. This requires an attitude where every project builds upon our past work—we’re constantly pushing design solutions forward.

Ballash: It requires taking the time to truly understand a client’s needs—how a space will be used and how it can be made better than what they had before. This is accomplished through a series of workshops where our main role is listening and provoking conversation.Attention to detail is important—visual and spatial esthetics, touch, balanced light, and acoustics all play a vital role in creating a space that feels comfortable and works for its intended use. We often use full-scale mock ups to test designs and materials for meeting our design goals.

Ballash: I have never thought of sound as a material, but more of an interaction with the materials—much as the relationship between a building and light. What will the interactions and the opportunities be? How it will be used? The play of light and sound is what animates a space, as well as its relationship to other spaces within a building. These properties help define a space’s character and feel.

Ballash: Acoustic flexibility is just as important as layout flexibility. Understanding how a space may be used, what the challenges are, and what options should be considered are all important when starting the design process.

Ballash: The museum requested a design that would accommodate film screenings, lectures, discussions that include staff meetings, music performances, and special events. This type of flexible, relatively small performance space is something we see as a trend in both cultural and educational buildings to meet a variety of assembly needs.The first thing we looked at was designing a flexible stage. It would need to have easy accessibility from audience seating, be large enough to accommodate moderate live performances, and be equipped with projection screens, masking, and drapery to support various uses. Of course, a seating layout with good sightlines and accessibility was also a must.Next, we looked at the necessary acoustic requirements for the different room uses and how they would affect the room’s geometry and wall finish selections. Half of the original theatre was located below a new, planned, 10-story addition to the museum, which required supporting structures to extend down to new foundations. This effectively cut the theatre space in half, resulting in a total gut of the original space. In developing the new theatre within the existing space, a new shell was built for us to work with.

Ballash: We first looked at designing a space with physical acoustics. When we analyzed the planned uses for the theatre, we determined that a great acoustical challenge arouse from the lowered ceiling created by the new overhead beams and the resulting geometry associated with the museum expansion.At that point we discussed the idea of using Constellation, which digitally alters the acoustics of a space to the optimal reverberation time without the challenges of spatial geometry. Constellation would also provide the ability to connect the stage to the audience, increasing the room’s effectiveness for lectures and staff meetings.The results have been spectacular. The acoustical presets give us the option to turn the microphones on and off as needed so the room can be tuned to accommodate any event, resulting in a flexible space to meet the varied needs of SFMOMA.

Ballash: This is the second cultural project into which we have incorporated Constellation—the first was the Exploratorium’s Kanbar Forum at Piers 15 and 17 in San Francisco. This space also called for flexibility in use—for film, events, classes, and lectures, as well as additional uses that haven’t even been thought of yet! Constellation has provided perfect acoustic and audio support for all possible uses, rather than a solution that worked just OK for many different needs.

Ballash: The trend towards flexible performance and classroom spaces is driven in large part by a need to be more efficient in building space, and to get more out of the spaces that are already built. Often the different uses considered for a space have different acoustical requirements. Constellation transforms and optimizes a venue’s acoustics for each specific use, eliminating the need for multiple complex systems.

Ballash: It depends on the project. For spaces that require high-performance acoustics and/or audio reinforcement, we think these specialists need to be at the table during programming so that the correct requirements are accounted for.

Ballash: I think we’re going to see technology integrated much more into built environments. This will include interfaces with lighting, heating and cooling, acoustics, and other environmental factors, which will be controlled by smart room systems. The result will be more comfortable and sustainable spaces for people to live and work in.