eLearning and Acoustical Design

How to design spaces for eLearning and Acoustical Design?

The Rise of eLearning

eLearning—also known as online and distance learning—has become a staple of the post-pandemic world, as universities, schools, and workplaces have moved to virtual platforms. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic, eLearning was becoming a popular format for universities and leading businesses. As early as 2012, massive open online courses (MOOCs), small private online courses (SPOCS), and hybrid/blended learning were garnering attention as a new future for education, both for the university and for businesses world-wide. 

These models have the potential to connect students with experts across geographic distance, allow corporations to offer employees advanced training programs, and make online-based learning courses a promising new consumer market. The educational technology (EdTech) market is projected to be worth $350 billion by 2035 due to the increasing demand for eLearning products like online and hybrid classes, virtual tutoring, language and skill-learning apps, and video masterclasses.

Online Learning and Acoustical Design

With the rise of distance learning, production studios and soundstages—where professional-quality audio and video content can be recorded, mixed, and mastered—are becoming an essential feature of the school and workplace. These facilities enable organizations to create and broadcast content ranging from short lessons to full lectures, corporate seminars, roundtable discussions, and symposia—all indispensable products for a world increasingly moving to online learning.

Designing these facilities requires specialized consultants that work with architects to create optimal studio environments. Without an architect trained in A/V production facilities design leading the way, studios and soundstages can suffer from a host of issues that make it difficult or impossible to produce professional-grade content.

Environmental Noise

Controlling environmental noise is one of the most challenging aspects of designing a successful soundstage. The specialized recording equipment used to create professional audio can pick up quiet or even unnoticeable noises, ruining a digital recording. Noise can come from several sources, including activity in nearby rooms, vehicular and air traffic outside a building, and the facility's ventilation and plumbing systems themselves.

To achieve acoustical separation, most soundstages are designed as rooms-within-a-room: units with specialized constructions like floated floors, independently suspended ceilings, isolated MEP systems, absorptive finishes, and sound-rated doors. Depending on the building, these rooms may need comprehensive soundproofing measures. For example, soundstages built in converted warehouses will need extensive additional soundproofing because of the building’s lightweight and minimally insulated roofs and walls.

An expert acoustical designer can develop customized solutions for achieving isolation from ambient noise in existing buildings, design details for specialized constructions and isolated MEP systems, and work with architects to specify acoustically rated products to ensure optimal acoustic performance.

Acoustical Response

Studios for mixing and mastering—where audio engineers polish raw audio recordings into professional-grade content—present their own acoustic challenges. These facilities need to provide a flat frequency response, meaning one that does not change or color the sound of the audio. Room geometries, layouts, and furnishings can have a significant effect on how audio sounds, boosting certain frequencies and suppressing others. Without a flat room, even highly trained audio engineers can not accurately mix and master a recording.

To achieve a flat frequency response, acoustical designers create optimally proportioned rooms within existing buildings, develop studio layouts that minimize sound coloration, and identify what specialized treatments are needed in what locations within a room.

Spatial Challenges

Sound stages and production studios take up a considerable amount of square footage. Beyond the recording environment itself, these facilities require a host of support spaces like control rooms, mixing and mastering studios, green rooms, and equipment storage facilities. Fitting these into an existing building while creating a comfortable and productive environment requires expertise in both spatially efficient design and the day-to-day operations of production studios.

An architect expert in designing A/V production facilities (TG - Same comment about what to call my role.)can work closely with a client's creative teams to understand their workflows, programmatic needs, and storage requirements to design environments that fully support their operations.

Applications

Professionally designed production studios are becoming standard facilities for educational institutions and corporations alike. These can provide a range of capabilities that help organizations stay on the cutting-edge of their field, including: 

eLearning Businesses

• Video Courses

• Online Tutoring

• Language learning

• Fitness instruction

Companies and Corporations

• Video white-papers and thought leadership content

• Customized corporate training and development programs

• Virtual corporate seminars

• Content for youtube and social media channels

• Podcasts

Educational Institutions

• Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

• Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs)

• Hybrid classes

• Digital symposiums and conferences

• Virtual office hours

Case Study: LinkedIn Learning

When LinkedIn began developing Linkedin Learning—a program offering classes in software, creative, and business skills—the company consulted Interdisciplinary Architecture to design soundstages at offices world-wide where industry experts could record video courses. The service now has over 17 million users. As part of their ongoing collaboration with LinkedIn, IA has designed: