In a gymnasium, whistles, bouncing balls and cheering crowds often blur into one wall of noise, and announcements become hard to understand. This is one of the most common acoustic problems in large indoor spaces. The Taiwanese YouTube channel 超認真少年 Imserious recently released a video featuring the micro-perforated metal acoustic panels made by CKM Applied Materials Corp. Each square meter of panel has about 300,000 micro-perforations, and the product has been specified for Singapore's MRT system. The video was filmed at Fengshan Gymnasium, a project by Shang You Construction.

Gymnasiums have high ceilings and large volumes, and their floors, walls and seating areas are mostly hard surfaces. Sound reflects back and forth inside the hall, which makes the reverberation time long. Before the renovation, the reverberation time at Fengshan Gymnasium exceeded 5 seconds. Games and events were noisy, and the clarity of announcements and amplified sound suffered. Because gymnasiums also host ceremonies, assemblies and performances, the quality of the acoustic environment matters even more.

Before construction, we built an acoustic model of the gymnasium in ODEON room acoustics software to evaluate the layout and quantity of absorptive materials, and confirmed the design would meet the target before work began on site. We then installed micro-perforated metal acoustic panels across the entire gymnasium ceiling. These panels absorb sound energy through the resonance of the micro-perforations and the air cavity behind them, while the metal surface resists ball impact, is fire-resistant and is easy to maintain, making it well suited to heavily used large venues. On-site measurements after completion confirmed that the reverberation time dropped from over 5 seconds to about 2 seconds, meeting the original design target. Speech and announcements are now much clearer.

Shang You Construction has long specialized in architectural acoustics, from concert halls and international conference halls to the acoustic improvement of large public venues such as gymnasiums. We combine acoustic simulation, construction and post-completion verification, and continue to work with quality material partners like CKM Applied Materials to carry acoustic design through to every construction detail. We invite you to watch the video and learn more about this Taiwanese technology.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=277sQcKyrQo
(The video is in Mandarin Chinese.)