Indoor Soundscaping of Public Enclosed Space
Papatya Nur Dökmeci, Jian Kang

Indoor soundscape methodology and analysis techniques have been used for this study on two case public buildings in Sheffield. Sound recordings were carried out in different pre-defined function areas and certain objective and psychoacoustic parameters such as equivalent sound pressure levels (Leq), loudness (N), roughness (R) and sharpness (S) were considered for analyses of architectural and functional properties in each sample area. Analyses on indoor soundscapes were accomplished through post-signal analysis methods in both cases. In order to understand the indoor soundscaping approach, various architectural elements were analysed by architectural theory. The results imply that similarities in architectural and functional properties lead to similar sound environments regarding objective and psychoacoustic parameters. It was found that loudness is better related to indoor soundscape studies than objective parameters such as sound pressure levels and A-weighting. In addition, loudness values were found to have a positive correlation with roughness results in the studied spaces.

Key words: Indoor soundscaping, public space, psychoacoustics