University of the Western Cape (UWC) - Life Science Building

Architect

dhk Architects

Project Manager

Group Five

Project Value

R 450 million

Project Expertise

Auditorium Design

Large Volume Room Acoustics

Acoustic Modelling - Odeon Software

The Project and Acoustic Finishes

In 2008 we got involved in this project under the guidance of Dr. Justin Snell from dhk Architects (who had won the design of the new Learning Centre). The building brings together several departments into one new building. It includes labs for instruction, anatomy, 4 floors for R&D labs and a Bioinformatics Institute as well as other teaching facilities.

 The principal focal point of the Learning Centre is the lecture theatre and the teaching rooms that surround it. We wished not only to create great acoustical surfaces but also to display them in such a way that might also be an education to the students who used the facilities.

A variety of acoustic features and elements were used in the main lecture theatre including diffusers, ceiling reflectors and slot absorbers. The lecture theatre was a great acoustic success with ‘Excellent’ speech intelligibility. The architects implementation of our designs was excellent in creating a beautiful ultra-modern looking space.