Gretna United Methodist Church Sanctuary Sound Problem

Kevin McIverKevin joined the team in 2006. His passion for sound began early, working with bands and venues. At 21, he bought his own PA and began renting it out and engineering sound. Kevin has worked on projects ranging from recording studios and broadcast facilities to worship facilities, schools, and noise control solutions for the U.S. Military. 1-800-782-5742 Ext. 0119

The Issue

Gretna United Methodist Church is a church located in Gretna, Louisiana. They knew they had a sound problem within their sanctuary. However, they did not want a typical acoustic panel treatment.

Fabric wrapped panels line the walls of the sanctuary at Gretna United Methodist Church to resolve an echo problem.

The Challenge

Trey Harris, the senior pastor, approached Acoustical Solutions about treating the problems within the sanctuary; they had a reverberation time of over 4 seconds and a slapback echo problem. However, the biggest challenge was meeting the church’s desired aesthetic looks. They did not want a series of square or rectangle acoustical wall panels lining the walls.

Gretna United Methodist Church sanctuary using custom designed AlphaSorb® wall panels to reduce the echo while looking completely unique.

Gretna United Methodist Church sanctuary used custom-designed AlphaSorb® wall panels to reduce the echo while looking completely unique.

The Solution

When Trey Harris came to Acoustical Solutions, he was told that he needed to treat the back wall. If he could draw out a pattern for the AlphaSorb® Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels, Acoustical Solutions could make them to any size. Acoustical Solutions suggested the possibility of a sunburst pattern of acoustic panels above the doors, with panels on each side of the doors having angled cuts at the top to match the pitch of the ceiling. Gretna United Methodist Church had an architect from the congregation draw up a design with rough dimensions and they placed the order. Acoustical Solutions had their CAD department draw up each of the panels and send it back to the church to double-check the dimensions. Once the church approved the drawings, they would have the answer to both their acoustical and aesthetic problems within three weeks.

The Result

Everybody was pleased with how precisely the panels fit together to form this one-of-a-kind acoustical treatment. The church secretary stated, “everyone that comes into our church is amazed at how pretty the acoustical wall panels look. They have never seen a church that utilized acoustical treatment to make it into a work of art.”

In the Customer’s Own Words

“If my calculations are correct and I know they are at least very close, our sanctuary went from a 4-second reverberation time down to a 2-second reverberation time. We removed the slap-back echo completely by applying the panels you made for us.”

To learn more about how Acoustical Solutions can solve your noise control problems, use our contact form, call one of our Acoustical Sales Consultants at (800) 782-5742, or visit us on the web at acousticalsolutions.com.

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