Auditorium

(Unit-1)
Architectural Design Considerations and Guidelines

ABTS-II
MMCOA, Deccan, Pune
Presented by – Prof. Aniruddha Jogalekar
 Auditorium or Theater
Definition - An Auditorium or a Theater is a place for gathering together of a group
of people to witness a planned performance (A Drama, Dance, Orchestra, Opera,
Movie, Speech etc.)
• Auditoriums or Theater are Materially non productive, its values are entirely
Cultural & Spiritual.

• Are being built since 5th century B. C.

• Types of entertainment have varied a lot since last 2500 years.

Earliest forms of Auditoriums

Greek Theater Hippodrome (Used for Horse racing)

 Types of Auditorium or Theater - 1

Proscenium Screen

Dance / Drama Theater Cinema

(with Proscenium)

n ce a rea
ma
Perfor

Black box or an Experimental Theater (NCPA Mumbai)

 Types of Auditorium or Theater - 2

Performance
Area Performance
Area

Round or Arena Theater Thrust Theater

Conference or a convention hall

 Types of Auditorium or Theater - 3

Circus Sports Stadium

Open Sports Arena Indoor Sports Arena

 Auditorium Design-Guidelines

Three Participants

(A) AUDIENCE (B) THEATER (C) Producer

ARTISTS
1. Maximum Comfort 1. Facilities for
1. Wants adequate
2. See show & Hear preparing show
facilities for
show 2. Good condition of
achievement of their
3. Minimum Distraction performance
Theatrical project
4. Complete Safety 3. Efficient production

organization &

machinery
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines

Blo
ck-
1

Block - 1
-2 Entrance Foyer, Lounge,
Blo ck
ck- Blo Common areas etc.
3
Block – 2
Auditorium / Orchestra

Block – 3
Stage and Back stage
area

Exploded view of an Auditorium

 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
STREET OR DRIVE POARCH FOYER
(UNSHELTERED) (SHELTERED)
LOBBY & LOUNGE HOUSE

TRANSIT TO Leaves theater – Returns after the show

THEATER
Parking

Toilets, Food stalls, Aisles

Change window Display, Exhibition
Passages

Chauffer Turnstile window Lounge

Rows
Check
driven or room
Taxi cab Box office

Owner driven BALCONY LOBBY

vehicle

Seats
Tickets received Admission
in Advance Control ORCHESTRA LOBBY

Public transit Check

system Reservation room Lounge

Wait for Friends,

Pedestrian Celebrities, Early Toilets, Food stalls,
arrivals Display, Exhibition Emergency
Exits

CURB ENTRANCE LOBBY HOUSE

Flow chart of an Auditorium - For Audience

Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Audience comfort -Parking

Parking requirements as per UDCPR 2020

 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Audience comfort -Parking

In appropriate parking design leads to chaos

 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Audience comfort - Parking

Option -1
Off-sated on one side

Other Options
1. Basement Stilts
2. Podium
3. Terrace
Option -2 4. Independent
On the back building
side

Option -3
In the Front side

Parking Should be separated from the main

Auditorium building
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Components / Terms used in Auditorium

Proscenium
House/

Cyclorama
Auditorium
Service
Entry

A is le

Wings
Green Rooms

Gangway
Back Stage

Orchestra Pit

Lobby
Stage

Projection
room

Gangway

Wings
A is le

Artists /
Apron

VIP Entry
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Audience comfort - Foyer

Lobby

office
Box
Lobby

Street
Street

Foyer Box
office Foyer

Foyer area per

100 seats
Type of Auditorium Area Sqft/100 seat Area Sqmt/100 seat
Street Street
Opera House 100 9.30

Commercial Theater 100 9.30

Non Commercial theater 100 9.30

School
College & University
Community
Motion Picture 50 4.65
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Audience comfort - Lobby

House/Auditorium

Lobby area per 100 seats

Type of Auditorium Area Area Lounge
Sqft/100 Sqmt/100
seat seat
Lobby
Opera House 200 18.60

Commercial Theater 180 16.75

Non Commercial theater

School 120 11.15
College & University 140 13.00
Community 140 13.00

Motion Picture 150 13.95 Foyer

Pattern of traffic in a Foyer

 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Audience comfort – Crossovers

A i s l e

A i s l e

A i s l e

A i s l e

A i s l e

A i s l e

A i s l e

A i s l e

A i s l e
A i s l e

A i s l e

A i s l e
Audience Audience Audience

Crossover
Crossover

Option-1 Option-2 Option-3

Best case
Passages from the lobby
to the house directly in
Width of Crossover equals the
line with every Aisle sum of the widths of the Aisles
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Audience comfort – Lounge

Lounge area per 100 seats

Type of Auditorium Area Area
Sqft/100 seat Sqmt/100
seat

Opera House 800 74.35

Commercial Theater 600 55.75
Non Commercial theater
School 600 55.75
College & University 600 55.75
Community 800 74.35

Motion Picture 200 18.60

Lounge will be used for

• Waiting
• Food counters
• Vending
• Access to Wash rooms
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Audience Comfort
Wants to See Do not Wants to See
The Usher (Guide) Silhouette of the occupants of
the seat in front

The Steps Show disturbed by angles to

the Side, Above or Below

The Aisle Insignificant because of the

Distance

Row Illumination of Exit signs,

Twinkling galaxy of other
lights

Seats
The Program
Emergency & regular exits
Wants to be seen by other
show goers
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
The Showman

Wants Audience to see Wants to conceal from Audience

Walls & ceiling only as they contribute to the All elements in structure or equipment
atmosphere of the theater which will distract from the desired
atmosphere or fatigue the Audience

Objects of decoration which are significant Backstage are visible through the wings
as focal points as a part of luxurious feeling
Organ consol or Orchestra when they are Loudspeakers about the Proscenium
part of the Show
Stage lighting units
Organ consol or Orchestra when they are not
part of the Show
Bright light sources
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Seating

Human Vision..

Properties of human Vision & Sound

play a major role in deciding the Physical
characteristics
( Form, Size) of an Auditorium

The Horizontal angle of

Polychromatic vision (No Eye
movement) is maximum 40°.
For better comfort the angle
should be restricted to 30°
Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Seating

Audience ability to recognize the shapes,

choice of seats in order
A – Front center
B – Middle center
C – Middle side
D – Front side
E – Rear center
F – Rear side

Audience will not choose locations beyond

a line approximately 100° to the curtain at
the side of the Proscenium

The vertical angle beyond which ability to

recognize standard shapes falls of very
rapidly is approximately 30°
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Seating

Occupants are visually related to a performance

when the seats are oriented towards the stage –
Need for Curve seating
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Seating – Depth of House - 1
Visual Acuity Capacity

• The larger the house, the lower the

price per Seat.

• Capacity may be limited by optimum

seeing requirements and the last
row is kept within 15mt of the stage

• For shows involving live human

Normal human vision can perceive a performance the acceptable Depth
minimum dimension or separation as
of House is 23mt
follow,
1. Up to 3mt – 1 mm
• In order to make auditoriums
2. Up to 15mt – 4.5 - 5 mm
financially feasible the operators
3. Up to 30mt – 8 – 9 mm
compensates the occupants beyond
Thus, details of actor’s makeup and 15mt by charging less.
facial expression are not plainly
recognizable at a distance more than
15mt
Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Seating – Depth of House - 2
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Seating – Depth of House
Type Purpose Depth (Mt)
A Detail facial expressions and small gestures are 23 - 25
important in legitimate Drama, Dance
B Broad gestures by a single individuals is important in 23 - 40
group performances
C Gesture by individual is un-important and movement 38 - 60
of individuals from place to place is smallest
significant.

Depth of House – Vertical angle for Seating

 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Size of Proscenium – Another factor to decide Size and Layout of Auditorium
Opening Width of Proscenium
Use / Purpose Minimum Usual Maximum
Drama 8.00 10.00 12.00
Dance 9.50 – 10.00 11.00 – 12.00 14.00 – 15.00
Opera 11.00 18.00 22.00

Height of the Proscenium = Width / 1.6

Field of perception and proportions of the

Proportions of Cinema screens
Proscenium opening
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Seating in an Auditorium

Aisle

Max.- 7 Seats

Max.- 14 Seats

Max.- 14 Seats

Max.- 14 Seats

Max.- 14 Seats
Max.- 7 Seats
Gangway

General Guidelines for setting up of Seats

1. Width of the Tread should be between 900 – 1000 mm
2. Width of Seats – 500 - 550 mm
3. The seats in consecutive rows should be staggered in plan
4. Maximum Seats accessed from Aisle or Gangway in a Row are 7
5. There should not be a gangway in the Center of the Auditorium
at least up to 1/3rd depth
6. The Aisle and Gangways should be radiating from the stage and
should be of equal width
Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Vertical Sight lines
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations

Properties of Sound - 1 Frequency – Number of cycles per

seconds and is expressed as Hertz (Hz)
• Sound is generated in most cases by a Human ear can perceive frequencies
Vibrating object. between 20 Hz and 20000 Hz.
• Human vocal chords or the vibrating Octave Normally the octave is made of
reed of clarinet are obvious examples. frequencies of 125, 250, 500, 1000 Hz etc.
• Any wall which transmits sound from Wavelength is the distance between
a neighboring room is also vibrating, adjacent maximum and minimum pressure
even though the amplitude is miniscule
• A sound wave consists of a pressure Speed of sound = Frequency X Wavelength
fluctuation alternatively + and – relative
to atmospheric pressure.
• Passage of a sound wave causes air
particles to move backward & forward
parallel to the direction of motion of
the wave.
• The speed of sound at 20° C is 343
m/s or 1125ft/s
Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations

Properties of Sound - 2
• The speed of sound at 20° C is 343
m/s or 1125ft/s
• Most sound sources radiate more
energy radiate more energy in some
direction than others.
• The human voice is typical in being
DIRECTIONAL.
• Violins & other stringed instruments
tend to radiate most energy at right
angles to the sounding board. Yet once
the sound has left the source, it behave
in the same way as it does from an
omni –directional source.
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations

The nature of Music and Speech sounds

• Both music and speech consists of brief sound events separated by silence.
• They both cover most of the audible frequency range, though anything above 10000
Hz need not concern us, and for speech there is very little energy below 100 Hz.
• The individual sound events with speech are Syllables (a unit of organization for a
sequence of speech sounds) and a typical speaking rate is five syllables per second.
Music is obviously much more flexible
• Nearly all musical sounds with pitch depend on Resonance for their generation

Sound Propagation
• For every doubling of distance from the source, sound level decreases by 6 Db.
• When sound travel long distances outside, it is also influenced by wind and
temperature effects.
• For distance up to 50mt this influence is insignificant.
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations
Sound reaches the Audience in following manner
1. Direct sound –
1. In enclosed auditoriums the direct sound
normally is not affected by any
environmental effects such as Wind, Varying
temperature or varying air pressure.
2. It reaches the audience members effectively
if the sight lines are adequately worked out.
Appropriate sight lines ensure direct sound
reaches the audience

2. Reflected sound
The Geometries of reflection of Sound and Light are
identical
Surface Area required for reflection of Sound is
much more than the area required for Light because
of longer wavelengths.
A Hard surface is required for mirroring the sound
such as Concrete, Plastered masonry etc
Sound will continue to reflect multiple times until its
energy is removed by absorption.
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations
Diffraction
Pure or specular reflection happens when sound
hits an obstacle. For a finite size reflector behavior
at Low and high frequencies will be different. If
the reflector is suspended, High frequency sound
is reflected like light, creating a shadow zone
beyond the obstacle. But at low frequencies
where the wavelength of the sound is large
compared with the size of obstacle, bending or
Diffraction will take place and the wavefront
recombines as if the obstacle had not been there
Diffraction of sound waves is thus normally a Low-
Frequency phenomenon
A white matt surface, like a sheet of paper is reflective to light but scatters it in all
directions. For a surface to be acoustically scattering requires an irregular profiled
surface with projections between 0.3 and 0.6m
A lightly profiled surface will only scatter sound at high frequencies
The word Diffusing is often used as an alternative to Scattering.
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations

Reflective surfaces Absorptive surfaces

Reflection , Absorption and Diffusion

are the three ways the sound is managed
in any Auditorium

Diffusive/Scattering surfaces
Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations

Sound in Rooms
As a listener the first
thing one hears is the
Direct sound from the
source
This is followed by a
series of Early
reflections upto 100th
of a second (= 10 ms)
from side walls, ceiling
etc.
Sound reaching after
this is called as
Reverberant sound
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations

Geometry of different surfaces and its response to incident sound

Convex surface will Disperse sound hence desirable for auditoriums

Reflections from Plane surface might produce undesirable effects
Concave surfaces are dangerous because they focus Sound
Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical defects

Echo – 1. An Echo is a reflection which is heard as a

discrete event.
2. For any sound reflection to be heard as
an Echo it must arrive at least
50 ms later than the direct sound.
3. Reflection off the Back wall or Back wall
and Adjacent soffit are frequent cause of Echo

Flutter Echo
While Echo involves large
delays and long paths,
Flutter echo involves
short path lengths but
iterated many times.
Normally occurs between
two parallel walls. Can be
manages easily by tilting
any of the walls by 5°
Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations

Background noise
• In Urban areas noise intrusion from exterior
need to be considered. Traffic noise, Railway
noise, Aircraft noise are few examples
• A typical approach is to place the Box of
Auditorium within the Box provided by the shell
of the building. The intervening spaces are
readily used for Foyers and Ancillary spaces.

Foyer

Back stage areas Auditorium Lobby

Foyer
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations
Background noise
• Another main contributor to background noise is usually the Ventilation systems
• Ventilation system generates noise due to Fan noise and noise generated by the
airflow it self
• Controlling this noise involves substantial attenuation between AHU and Auditorium as
well as Low air outlet velocities

Reverberation time
Reverberation Time (RT) is the time for sound to decay to inaudibility.
RT is the most important criteria for Acoustical design of an Auditorium.
The optimum reverberation time for an auditorium or room of course depends upon its
intended use. Around 2 seconds is desirable for a medium-sized, general purpose
auditorium that is to be used for both speech and music. A classroom should be much
shorter, less than a second. And a recording studio should minimize reverberation time
in most cases for clarity of recording.
The reverberation time is strongly influenced by the absorption coefficient of the
surfaces, but it also depends upon the volume of the room as shown in the Sabine
formula. You won't get a long reverberation time with a small room.
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations

Sabine's Formula
 Auditorium Design-Guidelines
Acoustical considerations

Find out

Architectural details, Materials, Methods adopted for,

1. Sound Absorption
2. Sound Reflection
3. Sound Diffraction / Diffusion
THANK YOU