Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC)
Queen's University, Belfast
Robert Essert, Project Director, Arup Acoustics
the challenge
To create a facility for creating and performing music; learning about music perception, and 
sound perception in general, on a very tight budget. To achieve the extremes of acoustical flexibility in order to expand the boundaries of electronic and acoustic music and other sonic art. Essert calls it "Ircam on a shoestring," after the famous (and expensive) research facility in Paris. The building was to serve collaborative work between the departments of Music Technology and Computer Science.
the building
The centre contains several teaching spaces and music post-production spaces, and work space for students and faculty. The jewel of the project is the Sonic Laboratory. 
This space, approximately 17m x 13m x 10m tall, has an open woven cable floor to allow the placement of loudspeakers below the listeners, or to create a sound absorbing or reflecting floor. The solid masonry walls can be totally covered with a system of sound absorbing panels and curtains, or totally exposed to reflect sound across the entire audio band. The panels are moved with low cost, manual winches, allowing the researchers and musicians to change the finishes of the room completely from hard to soft in a few minutes. Ceiling panels can be absorptive or reflective at any height. The mechanical and electrical systems were designed to meet a very low background noise criteria - PNC15, using standard system components at low cost. Pubic access makes this space a wonderful venue for concerts as well as research.
audio systems
3D audio is in its infancy. Standard 5.1 "surround sound" is one common format, developed for cinema, but not always appropriate for music or other spatial sound work. The SARC audio system has infrastructure and loudspeakers to support multichannel audio of just about any format the creators can envision and program. A digital mixing console and Macintosh running Protools are at the heart of the system. Control can be located inside the large room or in an adjacent control room.
the function
The acoustics of the space can be varied to create spatial sound fields of infinite variety, in conjunction with computer-based 3D audio. The facility is being used for projects in areas as diverse as music composition and performance, audio systems research, psychoacoustics, and development of soundscapes to be installed elsewhere.
the project team
Michael Alcorn, Director of the Music Technology program at Queen's University and the key user-client on the project, led the vision for the project and wrote the successful grant application for funding.
As Project Director for Arup Acoustics, Essert guided the design of the Sonic Laboratory from its inception. The first task was to guide development of the acoustical and architectural brief -- the goals for flexibility and silence. The next step was to create the concept for the space, keeping sight of the tight budget as well as the innovative future of music technology and 3D audio.
Essert's experience with ambisonic audio and as a performing musician brought a personal understanding of the use of the building to the concept design. Details of the architecture and M&E systems were developed collaboratively with the rest of the design team.
Architect Hall Black Douglas developed the overall building and integrated the acoustical and electrical demands.
the venue
