Founded by King Chulalongkorn in 1899 to train civil servants, Chulalongkorn University was established as a national university in 1917. For the last 15 years, it has been the first-ranked university in Thailand according to the QS World University Rankings. The institution features state-of-the-art facilities on its dynamic million-square-metre campus in the Pathum Wan District of Bangkok, just two kilometres from the city’s green-zoned Lumphini Park and the tourist-thronging Siam shopping district.
The Faculty of Engineering, also the country’s oldest and top-ranked engineering program, boasts a 500-seat auditorium that is used for lectures, conferences, ceremonial events, and live performances. The auditorium’s interior recently underwent renovation, including upgrades to its mechanical, electrical, and audio-visual systems. Audiovisual consultancy Atkrist Co., Ltd. was tasked with the acoustic design of the space, and after reviewing several proposals, Atkrist and Chulalongkorn University Engineering Alumni Committee chose Advance Technology Contracting (ATC) Co., Ltd to accomplish the audio upgrade.
ATC collaborated with L-Acoustics Certified Provider Vision One to design a professional audio system based around the A Series for the newly refurbished auditorium. “The acoustical design by Atkrist ensured that we already had ideal reverberation time and RASTI (Rapid Speech Transmission Index),” explains Tanapat ‘Tony’ Mongkolkosol, chief operating officer at Vision One. “That meant that our team simply needed to ensure optimal coverage and uniform SPL distribution throughout the hall.”
Atkirst’s technical brief called for a system to deliver even coverage of 102dB throughout, and Vision One worked with L-Acoustics application engineer Chung Wah Khiew to design the ideal system configuration using L-Acoustics Soundvision 3D audio modelling software.
Their system design comprises a left-right configuration of three L-Acoustics A10i Focus with one A10i Wide, topped by two KS21i subwoofers per side. Four X8 coaxial speakers provide front-fill spread evenly across the stage lip. Under balcony-fill is provided by five 5XT, while four X8 speakers cover seats in the upper balcony. The system is just the right size to hit the venue’s requirements, with an additional 6 dB of headroom.
Vision One assisted ATC in training the auditorium’s technical team on the new system.
“The excellent sound quality and coverage of the L-Acoustics system fulfilled the client’s requirements for this comprehensive renovation project,” expresses Marut Tathong, Audio-Visual specialist at ATC. “The brand-new interior is now supported by the highest quality of pristine sound which handily fulfils the full range of events and performances that the university produces.”
