Judicial & Police

Courtrooms are critical listening spaces. Speech intelligibility is important in order for everyone to take part in the judicial process. Some larger courtrooms use reinforced sound, but smaller rooms may rely on participants to project their voice. Both types of rooms need to have low ambient noise from any mechanical systems, using engineering noise criteria standards (NC and PNC criterion curves).

The courtroom space is somewhat like an auditorium. The room has to be designed to project sound from the speaker in the front, to the audience, in the seating area. This is achieved using sound absorption materials on the rear and back side wall areas above chair rail height. You need sound control treatment that is durable, easy to clean and also reduces sound reflections and reverberation.

In larger courtrooms using holding rooms, there is the need for an isolated holding space using sound barrier materials in the wall construction, sound absorption materials on upper walls and ceilings and acoustical door seals to block room to room transmission and leakage of sound into and out of the courtroom.