Acoustical renovation of “Nuestra Señora de la Paz”

Church “Nuestra Señora de la Paz” is located in Pilar, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It has an octagonal floor plan and an internal volume of 2500 m³ with bare sidewalls and little ornamentation. Excessive reverberation (4 seconds at mid-band frequencies), and an inappropriate sound system impaired speech intelligibility making ceremonies almost unintelligible. The church also suffered from thermal problems due to insufficient thermal insulation on the roof. Measurements (reverberation time, impulse responses and STI) were carried out and subsequent analysis revealed the significance of these problems. A holistic acoustical and thermal renovation was proposed and a new sound system was designed to address these issues. Subsequent measurements validated the effectiveness of the proposed renovations.