SM&W Contribution
Opened in December 2017, the Spyscape Museum in Midtown Manhattan immerses visitors into the world of spying, counterintelligence, and espionage with historical and interactive exhibits. SM&W joined Gardiner & Theobald, Adjaye Associates and the rest of the design team to provide acoustical consulting services. Our acousticians were used to develop groundbreaking acoustical designs and noise isolation approaches to provide a museum experience that sets a new standard.
The main feature of Spyscape is the “Briefing Room” that serves not only as an elevator that delivers patrons from the ground floor’s main entrance to the 2nd floor exhibits, but also serves as a mini theatre that provides a short, immersive audiovisual presentation for visitors. SM&W developed a noise isolation design to reduce the elevator’s noise transmission into the exhibit pavilion floor, as well as provided room acoustic finishes for within the “Briefing Room” to maximize speech intelligibility during presentations.
Our acousticians also developed noise isolation for the seven exhibit pavilions by designing the pavilion entrance and exit vestibules with a serpentine design. This winding design directs visitors through several 90 degree turns, which blocks a line of sight and acts as a blockade against the direct path of noise propagation from one space to another. This indirect entrance and exit design also adds an air of mystery and excitement to the museum, as visitor’s do not know what is around each corner.
In addition, SM&W provided specific acoustical designs for each exhibit pavilion. This included acoustic sound absorption designs, speaker noise isolation, and speaker coverage areas where patrons can experience exhibits on an individual basis without one interactive audiovisual display interfering with the adjacent display.
