Undercroft Acoustic Project Update

Phase One of the Undercroft Acoustic Project is substantially complete as acoustic panels made from mineral wool or fiberglass board have been installed on all four walls. The temporary panels from Owens Corning will be removed and disposed. A “with and without panels” acoustic evaluation will be conducted to quantify impact thus far. Feedback on the impact of Phase One will help determine if further acoustic treatment would be beneficial. Qualitative evaluation and feedback from staff and parishioners who use the Undercroft will also help to determine if further treatment is needed.  

The goal of this project has always been to improve speech intelligibility in the room when multiple conversations are underway. Challenges relate to having a lot of co–planar wall/ceiling hard surfaces which sound bounces between. Design of the project to date was based on input from an acoustic engineer who is a colleague of mine at Owens Corning. Kevin Herreman manages Owens Corning’s acoustic lab, and he has volunteered his expertise to other churches including Spring Hills Baptist Church which did an acoustic upgrade of their sanctuary several years ago.

I’d like to acknowledge the input from several parishioners and St. Luke's staff who helped fine tune the interior design. We are blessed to have significant design and architectural expertise in our congregation. I’d also like to thank the parishioners who participated in the project design review before the plan was finalized, the wardens for their support of the project, Owens Corning for free acoustic materials and the test panels used for proof of the concept, and finally the generous parishioner who underwrote the cost of the other materials. 

Steve Mighton