Benjamin Markham
President
Mellon Hall is a bustling central meeting space for the entire campus community at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. The mid-century modernist building was constructed in 1956 and is one of the few existing legacies by Richard Neutra on the East Coast. Acentech’s scope focused on the Francis Scott Key Auditorium stage and its backstage transformation into a new Music Rehearsal room and black box Studio Theater, the Fishbowl, and the Conversation Room.
Having outgrown the original Mellon Hall, St. John’s College moved forward with plans to renovate the building and enlisted two design firms—Kelzo Group (architect of record), and David M. Schwarz Architects (design architect, owned by alum David Schwarz)—to expand Mellon Hall’s academic spaces and provide comfortable and inspiring areas for study, collaboration, and creative pursuits.
Acentech provided acoustics consulting related to room finishes, sound isolation, and mechanical system noise & vibration control for the renovations to various spaces. The acoustics in spaces such as the Conversation Room, where sound-absorptive wall panels and a sound-reflective ceiling were designed to enhance speech intelligibility, were crucial to its success in functioning as a lecture and seminar room.
Beyond the acoustical treatment in collaboration and common areas, Acentech partnered closely with the architects to design acoustics for the renewed Auditorium Stage, and new Studio Theater and Music Rehearsal room carved out of the auditorium’s backstage space. Acentech aimed to ensure the Studio Theater and Music Rehearsal room were equipped with adjustable treatments to vary the amount of sound absorption for various ensemble types and optimize mechanical system noise and vibration control within the limited space provided. We also designed sound isolation measures to isolate adjacent music studios, and a robust acoustical curtain wall to protect the Studio Theater from noisy street and loading dock activity.
The updated spaces within Mellon Hall adhere closely to historic preservation design standards, providing modern amenities to current students and preserving Neutra’s modernist landmark for generations to come.
