Kruisherenkapel – Uden

Built in 1904, the Kruisherenkapel is a mid-sized monastery church. The church was repurposed in 2015 as a
multi-purpose cultural building. In addition to religious activities, cultural, educational, social and business activities now take place.
In this monastery church, after the removal of the pews, an excessive reverberation occurred, as a result of which the
speech intelligibility was very degraded. Moreover, the room was perceived as unpleasantly noisy. As a result, the space was less exploitable than expected. In response, PBTA was asked to advise on improving the acoustics to turn this tide. The building, designed by renowned architect Caspar Franssen (1860 – 1932) is a national monument. The exterior and interior is designated as a “total work of art” by the National Cultural Heritage Agency.

Church hall, multifunctional 400 seats

Our advice
– Measurement of the acoustics in the existing situation, prior to the installation of provisions.
– Advice on the provisions to be installed, in consultation with the client, architect and the municipal
monument committee, partly for the purpose of the required monument permit.
– The basic reverberation time has been reduced from 4.5 seconds to 3 seconds and can be further reduced to 1.8 seconds by means of variable acoustics. These values better suit the dimensions of the room, which therefore now has acoustics that you would also expect. A special challenge was to fit the sound-absorbing facilities invisibly, so that the monument-protected interior remained fully visible as intended by the architect in 1904. In order to achieve the desired reverberation time reduction, a considerable amount of absorbent material had to be applied, which also had to be distributed evenly throughout the room. This was done by applying sound-absorbing “stucco” in recessed plastered areas with brick frames on top of the existing, with the same “white” color grayed by aging of more than 100 years.
– Other absorption found a place in confessionals, in the pulpit, behind the altars, on the organ balcony, behind
attic shutters and the like, as far as visible provided with acoustically open prints with the authentic appearance. The national monumental condition that the provisions are reversible, i.e. that the original state can always be restored without any residual damage to the monument, is also met at.
– Interim acoustic measurements and final control measurements with a report of the results achieved.
– The variable acoustics consist of curtains that slide open and closed in places where they were originally found in similar churches, and mobile acoustic panels, which allow for different setups and room layouts.

Result
Very satisfied client and monument committee.