Alvine Engineering is proud to share that Oklahoma State University’s Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music won a merit award for mechanical systems from the Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI)!

The Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music is a 62,125-square-foot facility built adjacent to the new McKnight Performing Arts Center on the Oklahoma State University (OSU) campus in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music is the new home for musical learning at OSU with classrooms, conference rooms, and faculty offices. The building also houses practice spaces for OSU musicians, including vocal and musical practice rooms, a recording studio, as well as three rehearsal rooms for jazz, choir, and band.

Sound was at the center of design, impacting decisions from what luminaires could be used to the size of ductwork needed to provide a comfortable temperature while minimizing sound transmission. As a result, ductwork needed to be a certain length to attenuate sound, so it was routed further through the building to increase attenuation. Larger ductwork was utilized to reduce noise associated with higher velocity typically found in building duct systems.

“Mechanical systems often produce the most excess sound energy out of all the building systems,” Scott Sanders, P.E., a project manager at Alvine Engineering, explains. “Because of this, we had to be especially flexible and creative to come up with new ideas to meet the needs of the building, architecture, occupants, music program, and sound attenuation.”

For ease-of-use and budgeting, the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music was designed as an extension of the McKnight Performing Arts Center. Students, faculty, performers, and instruments can move conveniently between the two buildings through indoor passageways and avoid being exposed to the elements. The result is a premier music education facility for one of the best music programs in the country, recruiting talent from around the world.

Learn more about this award-winning project in our case study, “Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music: Limit Sound Transmission, Not Dreams.”