Acoustical evaluation on the effectiveness of the chancel shape and geometry of traditional churches

• Published in: Proceedings of the International Congress on Acoustics
• Main Author: Che Din N.; Shyh-Qi C.Y.; Abdul Jalil N.A.
• Format: Conference paper
• Language: English
• Published: International Commission for Acoustics (ICA) 2022
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85192526436&partnerID=40&md5=c0b61cd054d69ac00cc8250b7457ce5f

Church design and layout have changed throughout history based on the functional needs of its target congregation. In this study, traditional churches were selected for their chancels as the chancel has been omitted in modern church design. The chancel located at the front of the church has the potential to act as a sound source for the congregation seated in the aisles who are the sound receivers. The main aim of this research is to identify and investigate the relationship between the chancel's space characteristics and acoustical performance in church acoustics. Four churches with varying chancel geometry were selected and were categorized into three distinct room shapes - circular, polygonal, and rectangular. These churches were then modeled for acoustical simulation (ODEON) and subsequently with their chancels modified based on two characteristics: (i) chancel availability and (ii) chancel geometry. The results indicated that chancel availability does have an impact on the acoustical performance of the church. While in terms of room geometry, circular-shaped chancels have better speech intelligibility while rectangular-shaped chancels have better reverberation time. © 2022 Proceedings of the International Congress on Acoustics. All Rights Reserved.