Higher Education

Wheaton College — Conservatory of Music

Wheaton, IL

Recital, recording, and instructional audio systems for a working conservatory.

The completed concert hall, looking back toward the balcony and control room.Photo: Mercer Aplin

About the project

Wheaton's Conservatory grew past its building, and the answer came in two phases: a gutted science building reborn as teaching studios, practice rooms, and a 100-seat recital hall, followed by new construction housing the concert hall.

The rooms were modeled and auralized before they existed so faculty could hear the unbuilt spaces against halls they already knew. On the systems side the scope ran from overhead loudspeakers and adjustable drapery in the recital hall to backstage paging, intercom, and touch-panel control, an instructional audio classroom with live-capture positions, and acoustic verification with a dodecahedron source during commissioning.

Key specs

Sector: Higher Education
Location: Wheaton, IL
Role: AV systems design consultant
Firm of record: Threshold Acoustics, Chicago
Design team: Architect: HGA; AOR: FGM Architects; Theatre Consultant: Theatre Project Consultants; Engineers: IMEG
Documentation: 7 site photographs

Gallery

Recital hall with overhead loudspeakers and adjustable acoustic drapery.Photo: Mercer Aplin

Concert hall under construction — reflector cloud and stage fit-out in progress.Photo: Mercer Aplin

Acoustic measurement with a dodecahedron source during commissioning.Photo: Mercer Aplin

Balcony-level display and house loudspeakers under the reflector array.Photo: Mercer Aplin

Backstage control panel: touchscreen, intercom, and paging station.Photo: Mercer Aplin

Instructional audio classroom and control suite with monitoring and live-capture positions.Photo: Mercer Aplin

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