Soundview Recreation Center is a new 45,000-square-foot recreation center in the Bronx with mass timber structural elements, designed by Snøhetta for NYC Parks and the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC). The center will include a storm water infiltration system, sustainable roofing, onsite renewables, and a geothermal heating system, part of a broader sustainability strategy for the site.
LSTN provided acoustics consulting for the project. Recreation centers present a particular acoustic challenge: gymnasiums and multipurpose rooms generate high noise levels and are highly reverberant by nature, yet they typically sit adjacent to quieter program spaces—offices, classrooms, and community rooms—under one roof. Our work focused on room acoustics treatment to control reverberation and speech intelligibility in active spaces, alongside sound isolation strategies to keep that noise from migrating into the quieter areas of the building.
The mass timber structure added a layer of complexity we’re well versed in: exposed wood assemblies are prized architecturally but behave very differently than the concrete and steel typical of recreation facilities, requiring acoustic treatments and isolation details tailored to timber construction.
