NEWS Archives - AVL Designs, Inc.

Cafetoriums present a unique challenge in many respects. Combining the use of the same space as a cafeteria and for performance is an acoustic dilemma. If the space is too live, it will be noisy during lunch. If it’s too dead, it will produce a dry and lifeless sound when it comes to music. Over time we have developed a formula that works well for these spaces: we take out a significant amount of higher frequency energy to create a warmer sounding space that still is live enough for music. .

cafetorium

Two such spaces in the Horseheads Central School District are the Gardner Road Elementary School, and Horseheads Middle School. The Gardner Road project was a renovation with specific limited parameters. The design team at Hunt Engineering Architectural took our acoustic concepts and turned them into a unique patterning on the walls and the ceilings using lighting elements to create dimensional shapes. .

cafetorium 1

AVL then added all of the required lighting, stage rigging, audio and AV components to the space to complete the capabilities desired by the district. Day-to-day users are relatively automated but there are also performance consoles For both lighting and sound to allow for more sophisticated performances. .

The middle school was an expansion of an existing cafeteria including extended height in the middle of the room. Acoustic treatments including roof deck were designed into the space to control the sound of the enlarged room of volume. Larger quantities of absorption were used in the back of the room to account for frequency shift. .

Lighting was integrated with the acoustical clouds added into the room in front of the stage. Stage rigging and curtains were included with a motorized cyclorama, due to the low stage height not allowing counterweight rigging. High-definition projectors were included for both spaces with Crestron controls. .

Large flat screen monitors are located further back in the space allow group huddle sessions at each monitor location or they can project content coming from the stage from the streaming camera.

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The New Depew Cayuga Heights School Auditorium

Cayuga Elementary auditorium

The Cayuga Heights Elementary School in the Depew Union Free School District was performing their shows in the high school auditorium. They had no auditorium of their own, which was limiting the number and types of performances they could offer.

Cayuga Depew auditorium

Young + Wright Architectural was enlisted by the district to design an entirely new auditorium for the elementary school. AVL Designs Inc., in turn, came onboard as the theatrical consultant.

Cayuga auditorium

AVL’s work scope included providing acoustical analysis and an acoustic design to create the best overall sound for the auditorium. Additionally, we crafted plans for the stage rigging, theatrical lighting, professional audio and AV design, plus interrelated systems such as intercom and camera systems.

Cayuga Auditorium 1

The budget did not allow for a full height fly space on stage or cat walks in the main auditorium, so our design team worked to come up with a Dead Hung stage and two Dead Hung front of stage front of house lighting positions that allow quality performance capabilities even with the Dead Hung space. The new auditorium has been commissioned, is in use, and has been well received.

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Big Flats School Gymnasium / Auditorium

The recently completed Big Flats gymnasium/auditorium in Horseheads, New York presented typical challenges of multi-use spaces, particularly acoustics.

Bog Flats school

Gymnasiums often lack acoustic treatment suitable for stage performances. To compound the issue, without fixed seating there is less absorption to control reverberation which makes a room overly reverberant when not fully occupied.

Big Flats auditorim

Most gymnasiums are rectangular in shape and have sound echoing issues. To address this, a masonry diffusor block from RPG was installed opposite the loudspeakers to disperse sound waves and reduce echo.

Big Flats

Side wall acoustic panels were added to reduce reverberation when the room is not fully seated, or is being used as a gym, creating a pleasant-sounding gym and performance space. An acoustic roof deck was also installed to aid in reverberation control.

Big Flats

Lighting fixtures for the front of the stage were placed in protective cages. The SSRC light cage used is excellent for this purpose.

The loudspeakers were selected for their acoustic qualities and impact resistance.

Big Flats rolling rack

The mixing console is kept in a rolling rack when not in use and can be run daily from an iPad. Lighting controls are also operated via touch screen or portable console.

In collaboration with Hunt Engineers, Architects & Surveyors, AVL Designs Inc. created a versatile space that meets the needs of Big Flats School.

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URMC Saunders Center for Orthopaedics & Physical Performance

URMC orthopedics bldg

University of Rochester Medical Center’s new Saunders Center for Orthopaedics & Physical Performance is located in the south end of the Marketplace Mall in Henrietta, New York. This brand-new outpatient orthopaedics facility has been created to provide greater convenience for patients accessing healthcare services.

AVL Designs Inc. provided acoustical isolation of the new URMC spaces from the existing and operational mall area, bus stops, and parking lots.

AVL Designs Inc. also crafted the acoustic designs for interiors in the lobby, meeting and conference rooms, and large lecture hall. The design intent was to provide spaces that would not require amplification for many functions, while also being excellent for streaming and teleconferencing.

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Altmar-Parish-Williamstown CSD

Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Central School District located near Tug Hill, New York, affectionately known as “The Snow Capital of the World,” was in need of renovation for their junior-senior high school auditorium and music departments. This makeover was to encompass a full gut of both the auditorium and the adjacent music spaces.

The project called for significant improvements to benefit their theatrical and live music performances in the auditorium. It included addressing the acoustics, audio, video, theatrical lighting and controls, HVAC noise, and house lighting. Likewise, the music spaces would gain better-quality acoustics and reduced mechanical noise.

Ashley McGraw architects contracted AVL Designs Inc. as their consultant for this project. Working with the team at Ashley McGraw and FS Engineering, plans were developed to radically change all these spaces.

As with any renovation project, existing conditions can be a limiting factor. The school district had hoped to raise the fly space over the stage and to provide a catwalk in the auditorium. For a variety of reasons, these could not be accomplished so viable alternatives were developed. A motorized truss was installed in the auditorium allowing access to the theater lighting. The rigging system was replaced, allowing for safe operation on stage within the limits of the building height. To make loading and unloading of arbors easier, a brick house system was incorporated into this plan. Sidewall box torms* were added to assist with lighting areas in front of the stage that could not be reached using the truss. *Torms= proscenium length curtains

.A significantly enlarged control booth was added to allow audio, lighting, video control, and motorized spotlight control. This last item was required due to the room not having a location for manually operated spotlights.

The follow-me system allows an operator in the booth to control motorized lighting fixtures utilizing a point-of-view camera to follow people on stage accurately.

HVAC noise control was a challenge due to having reuse of some ductwork and chase locations within the building. One significant noise-related challenge was in locating a mechanical room above and behind the stage with a storage room below. Isolating mechanical noise so that it does not enter the rear of the stage was achieved through a variety of methods and it was successful. Target noise levels within the auditorium and music rooms were also met with a combination of duct linings and silencers in critical locations within the duct.

The new lighting system consists of all LED fixtures from ETC, and VariIight. The new audio system includes a digital console from Allen and Heath, loud speakers from Fulcrum Acoustics, control systems from Crestron, wireless microphones from Sennheiser digital, projection from Panasonic, PTZ camera from Panasonic and many other products. The auditorium was just commissioned in the third week of January 2025 and will be put to good use for shows starting in the spring.

The music spaces were renovated as well providing significantly improved acoustics.

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