An Acoustic Reconstruction of the House of Commons, c. 1820-1834

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper presents an acoustic reconstruction of the UK House of Commons between c. 1820-34. Focusing on a historically important site where political decisions were debated over the centuries, we aim to simulate and present the intangible principles of the acoustic properties and sounds heard within the space. The acoustic model was created based on available historical evidence with the aid of commercial acoustic simulation software. We discuss the decisions made for this reconstruction, based on further experimentation with the acoustic characteristics of the constituent materials, and settings of the available software. An additional comparison of the achieved acoustic results with spaces of similar historical importance and layout is presented, as a calibration of the model with in situ measurements was not possible in this case study. The values of T30, EDT, C50 and Ts are presented, while auralization examples are also available for a subjective evaluation of the results.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)193-215
Number of pages23
JournalAcoustics
Volume5
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

© 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

  • room acoustics
  • geometrical acoustics
  • intangible heritage

Cite this