Acoustic characterization of the Municipal Museum Abade Pedrosa

Abstract

The 2016 rehabilitation of the Municipal Museum Abade Pedrosa (MMAP) in Santo Tirso, Portugal was analyzed to verify in what way acoustics interferes in the museum enjoyment. In situ measurements were done in the exhibition rooms: Reverberation Time, RASTI and Sound Level (LAeq). RT [500, 1k, 2k Hz] values were between 2.5 and 3.9 s. RASTI mean values varied between 0.44 and 0.55 s. LAeq values of background noise reached a top value of 43 dB in the 1 kHz frequency band and a global value of 57 dB(A). A multicriteria analysis was carried out to globally characterize the museum in a simple way, with an algorithm that ranks the rooms. A comparison of the measured values was done with similar studies in other museums: Soares dos Reis (Porto, Portugal), Serralves (Porto, Portugal) and other international museums, being possible to verify that the MMAP has worse acoustic values compared to those museums.