Project Challenge

This 260-seat community planetarium and science lecture hall in Inverness, Scotland hosts astronomy talks, dome film screenings and children’s science events. Housed in a historic stone building with a high vaulted dome ceiling, the space creates strong mid-low frequency standing waves and uneven sound distribution. Commentary speech sounds muddy during talks, and dome film audio suffers from boomy bass and uneven coverage across seating. The hall needed acoustic tuning suitable for both spoken word and immersive film audio, while respecting the listed building’s historic interior and avoiding structural damage to walls.

Our Solution

On side and rear walls we installed a grooved and perforated resonant acoustic panel system, paired with mineral wool infill and rear air cavities. We ran acoustic simulation on the hall’s volume and dome geometry, then precisely tuned the slot and perforation ratios to target the 250–1000Hz mid-low frequency standing waves causing most of the clarity issues. The whole system hits NRC 0.90, delivering balanced full-band sound absorption suitable for both speech and immersive audio. Panels were mounted using a reversible hanging system that does not penetrate or damage the historic stone walls. On the ceiling perimeter we used high-density fiberglass acoustic tiles, NRC 0.90–0.95, to control overhead reflections and even out sound coverage across all seats.

All panels meet EN 13501 Class A fire safety for UK public assembly venues. We used a dark matte finish that blends into the dome’s night-sky theme, no visible industrial look.

Project Results

Speech intelligibility improved by an estimated 46% across all seating areas, with commentary now clear even from the back row. Dome film audio now has tighter bass response and more even coverage. Visitor satisfaction scores for presentation quality are up 30%, and community science event booking volume is up 28%.