The architectural and acoustic quality for theatres hosting animals

The paper investigates the optimal acoustic characteristics for theatres that include animals in their shows, especially horses, seeking for the maximum comfort both for people and for animals. Recommendations and indications might become guidelines for a possible architectural acoustic design. The architectural elements to influence the room acoustic response are indicated and numerous objective parameters to identify and describe the trend of the requested sound field are described. Having considered a good acoustic field for animals when the early reflections are usually present but late reflections are rare, the Reverberation Time at middle frequencies is introduced. The range of frequencies is extended from 63 to 8000 Hz. In the paper it is reported that optimal acoustic conditions are reached when the gross volume of the theatre should not exceed approximately 1800 m3, with high level of intelligibility (more than 60%) and Early Decay Time of 1.1 s. The interest to design theatres to host animals arises from some existing buildings which seldom host animal shows together with musical performances, which represents a hybrid solution between theatres and circuses. These buildings might help especially young people having some mental disorders to improve their living quality. One example is represented by the Emilia Bosis Foundation in Verdello (Bergamo, Italy), a non-profit organization that deals with people with mental disorders, to develop a space where to set up projects that include arts, animals ( horses in particular), and other cultural and social activities.