Real-Life Communication
Acoustical engineers almost always work as members of a team. They
cooperate with architects, general contractors, carpenters, interior designers,
logistical experts, financial backers and others.
Needless to say,
good communication is essential to making sure a project stays on track. A
missed signal between members of the team could spell disaster.
You're
an acoustical engineer. You are about to close a phase of the pre-construction
work on a cluster of buildings that will be turned into a learning and recording
institute for musicians.
The architect's drawings have been handed
off to you. You are about to hand them off to an interior designer,
who will work with the changes you made to help give the building the needed
acoustics.
You want all the members of the team to understand what
you did to the plans.
The information you want to get across includes:
- You are attempting to connect and unify an unrelated cluster of buildings
into a campus for a rock 'n' roll music school and its affiliated
parts. Because of the use, acoustics are of high importance.
- Due to a limited budget, only specific small interventions are possible
in each of the eight buildings.
- Wherever possible, you retained a building's original design, changing
only what was necessary to improve the sound quality.
- The acoustical improvements you recommend would take up 50 percent of
the overall budget, leaving the rest for structural and visual design changes.
- The project posed a host of challenges for you because the buildings are
all of different ages, designs and materials. Two of the buildings, for instance,
are made of brick and stone. Those are extremely difficult materials to work
with from an acoustic perspective.
- You will be revisiting the design plans when all the consultants to the
project have done their reviews. More changes are likely before construction
actually begins.
Try to keep your memo brief and to the point.