The use of quantitative criteria for the optimum design of concert halls

This paper describes a set of eight quantitative merit criteria for the design of concert halls, used in a developed automated computer optimization procedure based on a modified method of images. Idealized optimum hall configurations and surface absorption coefficients are determined based on each criterion. The acoustical merits of the optimum designs for a hall with given floor and stage areas are evaluated and compared to those of an existing hall with acclaimed acoustical quality. They are also compared to those calculated when the total sum of all the eight merit criteria is used as the optimizing objective function. The study represents a first attempt at optimizing acoustic space based on quantitative figures of merit. The developed technique can be invaluable in giving insight into the effect of improving a particular design objective on the configuration and absorption coefficients, as well as how the improvement of one merit criterion can affect the other criteria.