3D billiard digital simulation of acoustics in the conceptual reconstruction of “Building E” using Odeon Room Acoustcs.

The acoustics of “Building E” from Yeavering has attracted the attention of scholars, professionals, and the wider public. On-site tests were performed during the excavations directed by Brian Hope-Taylor to assess how the landscape and weather conditions affected acoustics. Similar tests were conducted when the (re)construction of the structure at Gyrwe was completed. These tests, however, can only provide non-quantifiable information on the subjective perception of sound. Other tests and simulations that consent to obtain objective sound parameters about clarity, loudness, reverberation, echo, etc. have never been conducted as far as the grandstand from Yeavering is concerned.

Today, the (re)construction at Gyrwe needs renovation, and this offers an unique occasion to explore these aspects within a collaborative project based in our Museum and involving the local community, archaeologists, architects, engineers, historians, and entrepreneurs.

New reconstructions of the structure and acoustics of the grandstand are being elaborated within Newcastle University’s McCord Centre for Landscape. Further to load analyses of the possible timber frame arrangements, simplified models consent to digitally explore how the acoustics would be according to the most likely configurations and materials of the historical structure. The obtained parameters will be used to recreate at Gyrwe what the acoustics of the Yeavering’s grandstand could have been.

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