Aviation Innovation Through Acoustics
Facilitating an Accessible Travel Experience Through Intelligent Acoustics Design | June 17, 2024
In a world where most environments are emphasizing the focus on interactivity and efficiency, airports are also adapting to meet these demands.
As hubs of constant activity, airport designs incorporate unique spaces and amenities. However, as these new and exciting features are added, it becomes essential to prioritize the impact of acoustics within the airport terminals.
It’s important to remain focused on the primary purpose of airports – to facilitate travel. Any enhancements made to terminals must not compromise travelers’ efficiency.
In today’s hyper-connected world, people seek constant stimulation and engagement while waiting for their flight. In response, airports have begun to integrate playgrounds, decompression spaces, workout areas, and interactive zones, among other amenities.
These additions highlight the importance of space planning, and emphasize the need for an acoustics consultant involved in the project from the beginning.
With their expansive structures, towering ceilings, bustling terminals, and constant activity, airports generate a lot of sound. Announcements coming over the loudspeakers, excess noise from the security area, and the roar of aircraft outside all impact the user experience.
Beyond the terminal area, it’s essential to account for the sources of noise behind the scenes.
HVAC systems and TSA machinery are just the tip of the iceberg, providing airport patrons with some insight to any unseen noise. This noise adds another layer of complexity throughout space planning and emphasizes the necessity for high-quality acoustic design.
Individual experience should be at the forefront throughout the planning process. Since each patron has unique auditory needs, the acoustic design should aim to accommodate everyone.
Communication is the key to getting passengers to the correct gate and enables airport staff to perform their duties efficiently.
Accessibility is crucial in airports, giving everyone the opportunity to experience travel without limitations.
For high-quality communication, a space needs high-caliber sound isolation. This comes from the utilization of materials that have a high Sound Transmission Class (STC) rating. Proper space planning will allow for office space and meeting areas to exist separately from the loud equipment rooms on the concourse. In the terminal area, an abundance of sound-absorbing surfaces will help to control the reverberation time of ongoing noise.
In regards to acoustics, the overarching goal is to control all ambient noise and maintain acceptable levels inside the building. This will ensure that the concourse and terminal areas remain loud enough to mask some sound, but not too loud to distract passengers ability to hear announcements and have conversations.
Accessibility is crucial in airports, giving everyone the opportunity to experience travel without limitations. Speech intelligibility is often perceived as primarily important for individuals with hearing impairments, however it’s essential for individuals of all hearing abilities.
Ensuring clear communication is especially vital for travelers who speak English as a second or third language. It’s imperative that ESL passengers have the same access to information as native speakers.
Speech intelligibility goes beyond audibility. Audibility refers to the ability to detect sound, while intelligibility is the comprehension of speech. Prioritizing intelligibility allows listeners to discern specific words and phrases over background noise.
Achieving quality speech intelligibility is reliant on the signal to noise ratio. The signal is the message that is being broadcast over a loudspeaker. Identifying the optimal volume for signals to be output ensures that it will be heard over any background noise. Additionally, the signal must be loud enough for patrons to hear high frequency consonant sounds like T’s and P’s.
A potential solution to increase speech intelligibility is to target announcements to certain gates and terminals. This would allow those whom the announcement could effect to hear the broadcast more clearly.
Being mindful of loudspeaker levels, especially at the higher frequency ranges with consonant sounds, is also important.
Implementing acoustic optimizations into an existing airport presents many challenges, a variety of components contribute to the complexity of the overall environment. However, it is possible to integrate these upgrades and changes with the expertise of an acoustical consultant.
For more acoustics insights, check out an article from our Acoustics Discipline Lead about LEED Documentation.
