St. Cecilia Motherhouse

New 100,000 SF building addition to existing 84,000 SF facility accommodates convent’s growth and an enhanced worship experience.  The expansion centered on a new 90,000 SF chapel which replaces an existing 2,500 SF chapel.  The new chapel seats 300 and features a pipe organ for exclusive use by Convent sisters.  The top priority hinged on singing/chanting with the organ and with limited reading of text.  Space acoustics centered on achieving a strong natural environment suitable for the organ and integrating a modest sound reinforcement system to accommodate speech intelligibility for readings.  In addition to collaborating with HVAC designers to achieve low background noise levels, AD’s team addressed acoustical challenges with the transept and the concave focusing of the wall behind the chancel.