The Baháʼí House of Worship
By the shores of Lake Michigan, just north of Chicago, lies an architectural wonder unique to the Midwest. The Baháʼí House of Worship is the second-ever constructed and the oldest surviving, with construction completed in 1948. As beautiful as this nine-pillared, quartz, and cement mixed concrete building is to believers and visitors alike, intelligibility and coverage were a problem for congregants. Recitations were from a single source in the main floor, underneath a dome that reached 138 feet high. Additionally, as the main floor was in the round, congregants had to either sit right in front of an unamplified speaker or hope any amplification wasn’t distorted.
Threshold Acoustics was enlisted to assist the temple with improving its AV system without disrupting any of the architecture or drawing attention away from the beautiful lace detailing in the cast concrete. Creatively using space available, all loudspeakers and controls of the sound system are completely hidden within the architecture.
The AV design centered around a new digitally steerable line array behind an acoustically transparent curtain for coverage of the main floor and three opposite alcoves. Small point source loudspeakers were retrofitted into existing but decommissioned duct openings at the apex of each of the remaining six alcoves. These loudspeakers improve intelligibility and coverage within the alcove seating areas, and each alcove zone can be turned on or off depending on if the zone is occupied or not. This further increases intelligibility by reducing the number of sound sources within the space that would otherwise cause excess reflections. A Neve Primary Source Enhancer was placed on the podium microphone input to further enhance gain before feedback and add warmth and a natural tonality for the presenter. A hyper-cardioid podium microphone and integrated low-profile stand provide excellent rear and side noise rejection allowing more flexible placement at the front of the worship space.
In addition to AV assistance for the main congregation space, we assisted the House of Worship with improving AV and acoustic design for the second-floor Choir area. A supplementary Choir sound system utilizes existing loudspeakers that are repositioned to provide an aethereal dispersion within the worship space. Two cardioid condenser microphones with integrated low-profile stands provide excellent pickup of the choir for distribution to the choir loudspeakers and to new wifi enabled Assisted Listening System, as well as an auxiliary feed to the main floor for articulation enhancement.
Control for the main floor AV design is easily found and configured by a touch panel behind the main loudspeaker curtain and by iPad for level control and zone muting. Similarly, control of the Choir system is accomplished via a dedicated iPad, with advanced control available through the main floor touch panel and iPad.
Location
Wilmette, Illinois
Owner
The Baháʼí House of Worship
Team
Acoustics and AV - Threshold
Owner’s Representative - Scott Conrad
AV Contractor – Sound Planning Associates
Size
26,242 square foot multipurpose room
Schedule
Renovation Completed 2020