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In 1994, Acoustic Directions undertook the design of new
loudspeaker systems for Courtrooms 1, 2 and 3 of the High Court. The combination
of the heritage and aesthetic requirements, the wide coverage areas and the
unusual room acoustics presented strong challenges. Collaborative design
of the loudspeakers was undertaken with architect Penleigh Boyd, their designs
being sufficiently innovative to be accepted for publication in the Audio Engineering Society journal.
Another difficulty was that the building itself precluded
the installation of any additional loudspeaker cables. To overcome this, we
incorporated considerable passive electrical filtering in the multi-driver
loudspeakers. This was a great example of our design skills at a component level
facilitating the conceptual design at a system level. Acoustic Directions may be
unique among electro-acoustic consultants in its ability to design systems both
at this component level and system level.
Since our work with the High Court in Canberra, we have
designed systems for the High Court in three other Australian capital cities;
each system using an innovative beam-steered array to achieve high speech
fidelity and high acoustic gain free of feedback.
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Acoustic Directions undertook the electro-acoustic design and commissioning of the sound systems for each of the twenty two court rooms. These systems have achieved a level of speech intelligibility, gain before feedback and acoustic comfort that has not previously been delivered in the Asia Pacific region, nor possibly the world. The sound quality in these courts has become a benchmark for court systems in Australia, New Zealand and now the USA.
ICE Design has been appointed to undertake the courtoom acoustic design for both these projects, providing advice to the architects on room-acoustic finishes and loudspeakers. A particular acoustic challenge is the proposed domed shaped structure of the NZ Supreme Court.
Acoustic Directions has designed loudspeaker systems for numerous other courts, including New Zealand Court of Appeal, Perth Federal Court Courtroom 4, Northern Territory Supreme Court Courtroom 6, and Sir Samuel Way Court Adelaide. Each of the these systems uses systems similar to those in the Commonwealth Law Courts Adelaide.