SHEN MILSOM WILKE



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Summer 2006 Report
If you would like more information on any of these projects or stories, please contact Jeff Wilde, Partner, at (212) 725-6800 or jwilde@smwinc.com.

Award-winning Technology Design in Silicon Valley
We Won (Again)
Keeping It Quiet at Valparaiso
Filling Big Shoes, Acoustically Speaking
A New Library for Latvia
The Evolution of Technology (and Shen Milsom & Wilke)

Award-winning Technology Design in Silicon Valley
San Jose Civic Center

Architects: Richard Meier & Partners Architects, Los Angeles
Multimedia, telecommunications, acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, San Francisco
Completion: October 2005

Challenge: San Jose, the heart of the Silicon Valley, is home to one of the largest concentrations of high-tech expertise in the world. The new San Jose Civic Center needed to reflect that slickness while retaining its design elegance.

The "One-Stop Permit Center"

Solution: With a technology budget of $3.5 million spread throughout the complex, the San Jose Civic Center offers a range of innovative services for government officials and the public. The “One-Stop Permit Center,” for example, brings city operations together at the same public counter for services such as planning, building, and other permits, customer information, and a cashier.

The technological centerpiece of the project
is the 350-seat council chamber, which
"One-Stop Permit Center" includes large screen projection and broadcast video cameras strategically located to record and broadcast council meetings through the in-house broadband distribution system, LAN, and WAN.

To keep the space looking clean, Shen Milsom & Wilke, working closely with Richard Meier & Partners, hid displays behind frosted glass, concealed loud speakers in lighting coves and behind a ceiling canopy above council chambers, and cloaked a sound system behind a large, perforated, curved-radius projection screen.

Photos courtesy City of San Jose

Acoustic concerns in the center’s all-glass rotunda are addressed with strategically located acoustical materials and a directional sound system.

Particularly creative for city government use is the digital signage system, which is used for way-finding, scheduling, announcements, and to broadcast meetings or events to the numerous displays throughout the center. A central media room distributes digital audio, computer and video signals throughout the entire complex.

We Won (Again)

Shen Milsom & Wilke’s work at the San Jose Civic Center earned a top award in the fourth annual ARCHI-TECH AV Awards, sponsored jointly by the International Communications Industries Association and ARCHI-TECH Magazine. The project is featured in the July/August 2006 issue of the publication.

Keeping It Quiet at Valparaiso
Valparaiso University Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources,
Valparaiso, IN

Architects: EHDD Architecture,
San Francisco
Acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Chicago
Completion: September 2004

Courtesy Valparaiso University

Challenge: The Christopher Center’s goal is to provide a study space for everyone
on campus. To that end, it includes areas for all study styles--large spaces with lots
of activity; small, quiet corners; a café for the “social” studier; and informal reading rooms. How do you maintain correct
noise levels throughout?

Solution: The award-winning Christopher Center, located near the revered university icon, Resurrection Chapel, is the keystone of a $33 million update to university facilities.

Working closely with EHDD, Shen Milsom & Wilke designed detailed interior finishes to compliment a range of noise levels, depending upon the use planned for particular spaces. Acoustical needs were also addressed for several conference and boardroom spaces, including an auditorium that’s used for a range of functions--from guest lectures to grand musical performances.

Special air-handling units were designed to quiet the building’s central mechanical systems. These were necessary to meet acceptable background noise levels in occupied areas. Outside, noise emissions were also evaluated to make sure they didn’t disrupt outdoor activities or affect surrounding buildings.

The building won a 2005 Citation of Merit in AIA Chicago’s Design Excellence Awards.

Filling Big Shoes, Acoustically Speaking
Eleanor Beecher Flad Pavilion Ford Recital Hall, Youngstown, Ohio

Architects: Ricciuti Balog & Partners Architects ,Youngstown, Ohio
Acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, New York City
Size of hall: 600 seats
Completion: April 2006

Courtesy Ricciuti Balog &
Partners Architects

Challenge: The Eleanor Beecher Flad
Pavilion is an addition to the Edward W. Powers Auditorium, built by the Warner Brothers (founders of Warner Brothers Studios) in 1931. The auditorium is considered one of the finest theaters ever
built, so the new Ford Recital Hall also needed “cutting edge sound.” Acoustic consultants Shen Milsom & Wilke had, as they say, big shoes to fill.

Solution: Ford Recital Hall is used for live orchestral music, ensembles, and choral productions. The initial architectural parti called for a cylindrically shaped hall, but Acoustics 101 establishes that round rooms are anathema to good sound. Curved surfaces concentrate sound in certain locations, creating undesirable "hot spots" and echoes.

This is complicated by the fact that Ford Recital Hall is for acoustic, or unamplified, music. As a result, acoustically absorptive materials couldn't be used on the curved surfaces and still maintain the liveliness necessary for this type of music.

To preserve architectural intent and still make the hall suitable for acoustic instruments and voices, Shen Milsom & Wilke assisted the architects in reshaping the back stage and side walls to project sound out to the audience, while allowing musicians to hear each other properly. They also suggested a ceiling configuration that diffuses sound and worked with the architects and engineers to integrate those ideas into the space. Reflector panels suspended over the platform are angled to further enhance the audience's experience. Key curved surfaces in strategic areas are treated with sound-absorbing panels to eliminate echoes and hot spots.

Shen Milsom & Wilke provided acoustic design for the entire Flad Pavilion, which includes back stage green rooms, dressing rooms, an entry lobby, and a restaurant. Sound-isolating construction assemblies for walls, ceilings, and doors minimize noise intrusion from the adjacent kitchen and the Powers Auditorium. Shen Milsom & Wilke also worked with the mechanical engineers to design a ventilation system capable of meeting the low-noise requirements of a world-class performance space.

A New Library for Latvia
National Library of Latvia, Riga

Courtesy Gunnar Birkerts Architects, Inc

Architects: Gunnar Birkerts Architects, Inc., Wellesley, MA
Multimedia, security, voice and data: Shen Milsom & Wilke, London
Acoustics: Sandy Brown SM&W Ltd., London (partnership of Shen Milsom & Wilke and Sandy Brown Associates)
Size: 500,000 square feet
Completion: 2011 (approximate)

Challenge: The National Library of Latvia is destined to be an architectural symbol for Latvia as well as a multifunctional information center. It is up to Shen Milsom & Wilke to not only design the voice and data network for the project, but also the acoustics, multimedia, and building security.

Solution: Working with Latvian-born architect Gunnar Birkerts, Shen Milsom & Wilke is designing a voice and data network to service the 12-story structure, which will include conference facilities, a 350-seat auditorium, extensive facilities for research, and exhibition space. All services will be fully computerized and linked to an electronic catalogue. This advanced infrastructure will provide free and easy access to all the library’s services.

The National Library of Latvia has a collection of 5.1 million documents in 60 languages. It also has ancient and rare publications that date back to the 15th century, including Martin Luther’s catechism, “Enchiridion”. Security is, therefore, an important consideration. Shen Milsom & Wilke will use crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) measures to protect the space. These include maximizing visibility of people, parking areas and building entrances; the use of landscape systems to clearly define property lines; and using of structural and design elements to discourage access to private areas. Electronic measures are likely to include access control, surveillance cameras, and other means to protect valuable items.

The Music Library includes 45,000 audiovisual recordings, while the record library contains multimedia works. Shen Milsom & Wilke will design display systems for listening and viewing at the library.

Shen Milsom & Wilke, together with its London-based partner, Sandy Brown Associates, will also provide acoustic design.

The Evolution of Technology (and Shen Milsom & Wilke)

Courtesy Harman International

Convergence describes the intersections between data applications and telecommunication systems. It is not a new term; the trend started in the ‘90s and continues to have repercussions throughout the information technology industry. What is new are the many innovative applications for this ongoing movement, particularly among wireless applications.

Understanding convergence, predicting its importance, and interpreting its implications for business and architecture, is the basis for Shen Milsom & Wilke’s past and future growth, explained Fred Shen, chairman and CEO of Shen Milsom & Wilke, during a talk delivered at the Harman Pro Group 2006 Global Business and Technology Conference on January 16 in Huntington Beach, Ca.

“As technology evolves, our company evolves, expanding to include expertise in the systems that share basic applications,” Shen said. “Right now, we offer multimedia, acoustics, telecommunications, and building security. Each of these technologies is inextricably linked.”

Unifying network infrastructure--combining what were once distinct networks, such as telecommunications, building management systems, security, lighting, vertical transportation, audio and visual displays, into a single service--is a significant part of this trend and it is something in which Shen Milsom & Wilke is actively involved.

One common “converged” network brings ease of maintenance. The costs and complexities associated with moves, additions, expansions, or changes are minimized; new functions can be added in days, not weeks. A greater choice of applications and equipment is available off the shelf. Information from all sources (voice, data, video, audio) can be unified so all aspects of a building’s operations can be linked. As a result, personnel are better informed and able to make better decisions.

Unified networks are in place in a range of projects, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, Hong Kong Science & Technology Park in Hong Kong, The Borgata Resort & Casino in Atlantic City, and H. Roe Bartle Hall Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Libraries, museums, residential high-residential buildings, healthcare facilities—all these as well as buildings of all types benefit from advanced network design.

“Most owners and developers have the misconception that investing in high technology is a budget buster,” said Shen. “The fact is that a unified network and its supporting infrastructure saves in capital investment while delivering savings due to operational efficiencies and energy conservation.”

Shen Milsom & Wilke, an international technology consulting practice founded in 1986, offers comprehensive services in the areas of multimedia/audiovisual, information technology/telecommunications, building security, and acoustics. The firm has a staff of more than 140 professionals and offices in New York, Princeton, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston, Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Dubai, Hong Kong, and London-where we have formed a partnership with Sandy Brown Associates.