Dartmouth sought to enhance the support facilities for its varsity teams. The Floren Varsity House is a 41,000 gsf facility, which includes a 10,000 sf varsity strength training space (free weights, weight machines and modern strengthening equipment), a 130-seat high-technology classroom for full team meetings, coaching and staff offices and conference rooms, lounge for football supporters, locker and shower facilities, and handicap access for the new East Stands. The project obtained a LEED® Silver certification for its sustainable design.

Acentech’s acousticians primarily assisted the project design team with sound isolation and mechanical system noise control. Initially, we studied sound emissions from the building’s mechanical equipment to the surrounding community. We used these data to recommend quiet equipment and provide suitable noise control, so that the new facility would not introduce adverse noise to nearby residences. The mechanical systems for the building also required noise control to achieve quiet sound levels inside the facility. Our most significant acoustical challenge was isolating the Strength Training space from the classroom below. To achieve appropriate acoustics in the high-tech classroom, we designed a substantial floor slab construction and sound isolation ceiling to isolate the two conflicting adjacencies.

Acentech’s audiovisual consultants designed several high-end audiovisual systems for various spaces within the facility. We worked closely with members of the Dartmouth faculty, the architect, and the other design team members to provide fully integrated solutions -- thereby meeting both the technical needs of the school and the seamless incorporation of technology into the architecture of each space. Acentech designed many of the systems to integate with the lighting systems, which enables the AV system to recall lighting scenes and presets via a color LCD touch-sensitive panel, which is used to operate the AV systems in each room.