Acoustic investigations of the contemporary churches in Poznań

The paper discusses acoustic issues of contemporary churches. Church interiors should be designed so as to obtain intelligibility of speech and simultaneously take organ music into account. It is a tough task as acoustic parameters required for speech and organ music are entirely different. Analysis of the issue was carried out on the basis of investigations in five contemporary churches in Poznań. In total, seven interiors were investigated as two of the churches were two-storeyed. The acoustic investigations were conducted by means of an omnidirectional sound source, a SVAN 945A Sound Level Meter and the DIRAC programme. RT, Ts, C80 and C50 were measured. The acoustic parameters were compared with values recommended for churches. The investigations allowed to draw clear conclusions concerning the influence of architecture of the interior on acoustic parameters.