We provided acoustical and audio/visual design services to B. Gordon Hlynsky Architect Inc. for the renovation of four 100 seat classrooms in the University of British Columbia Buchanan A Block. Part of an ongoing classroom upgrade program, these classrooms were changed from a flat floor long-axis classroom, to a tiered classroom with the seating plan changed to short axis. This provided better sight lines and closer seating to allow unaided speech to be better understood.

The room was equipped with a simple and effective A/V system. The room has a unique custom built vertical lift rigid screen that provides the option of a sloped surface for no-keystone overhead projector use or a tensioned vertical screen for video projection. The room has a 11.5 foot high finished ceiling, which meant that there was insufficient space above the blackboard for an overhead projection screen. There was a ceiling space that would allow a rigid screen to retract vertically into that space. A full height video screen with side by side OH projector capability was able to be provided in this fashion.

The room is equipped with a ceiling mounted video projector, and a distributed ceiling speaker audio system for playback of A/V sources, plus speech reinforcement. The four rooms are equipped with an infrared listening assist system that allows the same pool of personal receivers to be used in any room without interference.