Page 22 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— November 4-November 17, 2015
IT’S YOUR TURN TO DIG IN...
Construction, Design & Engineering
A
key step in the designprocess for
many projects is an integrated
design charrette. Design char-
rettes are intensive, hands-on workshops
that bring people from different disciplines
and backgrounds together to explore myri-
ad design options. The goal of the charrette
process is to capture the vision, values and
ideas of the various stakeholders who are
the owners, the developers, the end-users
and, for many projects, the real estate pro-
fessionals. The architect/engineer design
team works together to create alternative
designs based on ideas that are generated
by all the participants.
With respect to acoustics, we understand
that, while the acoustical consultant’s con-
tribution to the design is usually not con-
sidered the most important aspect of the
design, the control of unwanted sound
(commonly referred to as noise) is a critical
issue that should be an integral part of the
early design process. Educating charrette
participants about the principles of acous-
tics in a language everyone can understand
allows them to consider the effects of noise
in their environment. This is important
because stakeholders don’t often know that
noise can in fact be controlled and it gives
them the opportunity to voice their opinion
about expectations or priorities.
When the design calls for audiovisual
systems, structured cabling systems (as
for IT and telecommunications), and other
low-voltage systems, the appropriate con-
sultant’s attendance at the design charrette
is equally important. It allows the consul-
tants an opportunity to get an early under-
standing of the stakeholders’ expectations
and it allows the consultant to define bud-
getary constraints so that the design team
can develop the design
appropriately. This also
allows the consultant
to avoid unnecessary
additional services or
design changes in the
future.
As an example, I was
asked to attend a design
charrette for a new
school project. I was
surprised to hear how
many divisive com-
ments there were about
classroom acoustics
and it was interesting
to learn how teachers react to distractions.
After explaining the various design strate-
gies for acoustics and getting feedback
from the school principal and the teachers’
representative, the stakeholders and archi-
tects were able to prioritize design objec-
tives (acoustical elements can sometimes
clash or conflict with architectural features)
and reach consensus on the direction of the
design. As a result, the design team was
able to design a school with an acousti-
cal environment that fosters aural clarity,
provides a high level of speech intelligibil-
ity and promotes creativity while support-
ing the architectural design aesthetics – a
school that is conducive to learning, an out-
come that, unfortunately, is not inherent in
the design of many of our schools.
In closing, I would like to say that, if an
acoustical consultant’s input in the early
design stagesdoes nothingmore than show
that there are workable solutions available
and that there are no reasons for concern
about the project’s acoustical environment,
it will have been money well spent.
s
Dana Dorsch
Associate principal,
D.L. Adams
Associates, Oahu,
Hawaii
