Olympics acoustics and speech intelligibility in Rio, Brazil by Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)

Article source: Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)

Beyond spectacular, sports action, Rio’s seven Olympic Stadiums were distinguished by world-class speech intelligibility and extraordinary live video feeds. WSDG Walters-Storyk Design Group, Brazil-based Partner/GM, Renato Cipriano, reports the firm’s global team began coordinating a simultaneous Acoustic Program and Audio/Video System design in 2013, to meet this Olympic-level challenge. “Fortunately, we have extensive experience in multi-task collaboration,” Cipriano says. “Our U.S. and European teammates were invaluable assets in providing comprehensive technical, acoustic, aesthetic and technological designs for the Maracanã and Barra Park Olympic stadiums, and for Belo Horizonte’s Mineirão,and Independencia arenas.”

Arial view of Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Image Courtesy © Alberto Andrich

• Acoustic Consultants: Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG) 
• Project: Olympics acoustics and speech intelligibility
• Location: Rio, Brazil

WSDG Partner/Director of Design, Renato Cipriano, pictured on the ramp leading to one of four large LED video walls created for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio’s Maracanã Stadium, Image Courtesy © Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)

Developed as Rio’s primary 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games competition centre, Barra Park will continue to serve as the city’s largest legacy sporting venue. With an expanse of 1.18 million square meters, Olympic Park includes nine sports venues. The Olympic Arena and Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre, were originally built for the Rio 2007 Pan American Games. The seven new stadiums/sports venues are: The Olympic Tennis Centre, Aquatics Stadium and Rio Olympic Velodrome; plus the COT Arenas, Olympic Hall 1 (basketball, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby), Olympic Hall 2 (Olympic and Paralympic judo, plus wrestling and boccia), Olympic Hall 3  (taekwondo, fencing, sitting volleyball) and, Olympic Hall 4 (handball and goalball).

COT PA System – Basketball Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) Simulations, Image Courtesy © Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)

WSDG designed the Acoustic Program and Audio and Video Systems for the stadiums and all public areas, a total of 300.000 square meters (3,000,000 sq. ft.). Mission specs encompassed: Inclusive acoustical treatments, a comprehensive sound system, serving the soccer field, audience and VIP rooms, offices, internal spaces and access areas; Video systems, including four large LED video walls (85 square meter/915 sq. ft.) each; Score Board screens, Time Clock and Media Video Displays throughout the complex. Fully integrated Audio and Video Control Rooms, as well as acoustics, sound and video systems for the 3 Tennis Arenas + practice fields (10,000, 5,000 and 3,000 seats); the 18,000 seat Aquatic Arena + Warm Up Pool; and, Audio and Video Systems for the COT Arenas (16,000 seat Basketball, 10,000 seat Judo and 10,000 seat Wrestling arenas).

COT PA Speech Transmission Index (STI) Basketball PA Simulations, Image Courtesy © Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)

Originally built in 1965, the 62,1601 seat Mineirão Stadium is Brazil’s second largest sports arena. Designed to generate benefits long after the 2016 Olympics is history, officials immediately recognized the need for a significant Audio/Video and acoustics upgrade to enable the 51-year-old complex to comply with FIFA technical requirements.

COT Judo PA Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) Simulations, Image Courtesy © Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)

“Our primary Mineirão concerns focused on the level of sound comfort and intelligibility in relation to RT60 reverberation time,” Cipriano says. “Our sophisticated simulation programs enabled us to assess and ‘auralize’ the entire complex. We identified extensive sound reflections throughout the arena and concluded that acoustical absorption was required at the inner ring of the audience sector to achieve the required STI values. Speaker positioning was defined for the internal and external areas, and for numerous zoning maps, which can now be individually controlled for increased flexibility and security purposes.  All audio and video systems, and control room speaker selections, were designed to meet FIFA, international security and, Olympics Committee standards.  Additionally, we recommended incorporating a Video Wall instead of a traditional scoreboard,” he adds.

COT Judo PA Speech Transmission Index (STI) Simulations, Image Courtesy © Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)

WSDG Europe Partner/GM Dirk Noy reports the Basel, Switzerland team performed extensive acoustical simulations to insure optimal stadium speech intelligibility,  “This is a three-step procedure,” Noy explains. “In step one, each individual space must be translated from architectural information (e.g. drawings and measured dimensions), into a three-dimensional digital model. In step two, the model is fitted with acoustical surfaces. Basically, every surface of the model  (walls, floor, windows, ceiling, furniture, curtains, etc.) needs to be assigned specific acoustical properties. In step three,” Noy concludes, “we perform ‘virtual’ acoustical measurements in the model and apply those results to correct or modify any (absorptive or reflective) acoustical issue.”

COT Wrestling PA Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) Simulations, Image Courtesy © Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)

Simultaneous to this extensive Mineirão assignment, WSDG coordinated extensive Audio and Video upgrades for Brazil’s largest sports venue, the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, which hosted 250 thousand fans for a KISS concert in 1983; And, for Independencia, a 25,000 seat arena built in Belo Horizonte in 1950.  All three stadiums had hosted events for the 2014 World Cup. Maracanã hosted the opening and closing events of the 2016 Olympics.

COT Wrestling PA Speech Transmission Index (STI) Simulations, Image Courtesy © Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)

“We are extremely pleased to have lent our expertise to these formidable Brazilian stadium projects,” Renato Cipriano concludes. The collective expertise of our European and U.S. associates enabled us to provide precise testing, exacting presentation drawings and meticulous system integration programs in an extremely efficient, and cost-effective manner. We were honored to have participated in this extraordinary Olympic adventure.”

About Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG) 

WSDG, a media facility design and consulting firm has collaborated on over 3500 audio /video facilities worldwide. Credits include Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios (1969); NYC’s Jazz At Lincoln Center and, Le Poisson Rouge; broadcast facilities for The Food Network, ESPN, and WNET; major education complexes for NYU, The Art Institutes and Berklee College of Music, Valencia and Boston (2015 TEC winner); and media rooms for such corporate clients as Hoffman La Roche, Cemex, and Sony. Studio projects include NYC’s Jungle City Studios for award winning engineer, Ann Mincieli, Green Day (CA), Jay-Z (NY), film composers Carter Burwell (NY), A.R. Rahman (India), Aerosmith (Boston), Bruce Springsteen (NJ), Alicia Keys (NY), and Paul Epworth’s The Church Studios (London).WSDG principals John Storyk, Beth Walters, Sergio Molho, Silvia Molho, Renato Cipriano, and Dirk Noy lecture frequently at universities and industry events, and contribute regularly to industry publications.  WSDG has collaborated with such noted architects as Frank Gehry, Norman Foster and Phillipe Stark.  WSDG is a ten-time winner of the NAMM TEC Award for outstanding achievement in Acoustics/Facility Design.  The firm maintains offices in New York, Miami, Buenos Aires (Argentina), Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and Basel (Switzerland) with representatives in Barcelona (Spain), Moscow, Guangzhou (China), Florence (Italy), Mexico City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Tags: Brazil, Rio

Category: Stadium

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