Architect: HNTB, Kansas City, MO
IT, multimedia, acoustics: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Chicago
Size: 670,000 square feet, including 40,000-square-foot ballroom
Completion: August 2007

Located in downtown Kansas City, Bartle Hall includes meeting rooms, a fine arts theater, a sports arena, and a 46,000-square-foot ballroom--all connected to downtown hotels and parking by glass-enclosed skywalks. Work here included a renovation of the exhibit halls and meeting rooms; the ballroom is an addition.

Shen Milsom & Wilke designed a sophisticated data network that supports building automation systems, lighting, audio, and administrative support. There is also an exhibitor’s network—a service that Bartle Hall sells to provide hardwired and wireless Internet access for conference center clients and its exhibitors. The wireless system supports several wireless services, an 800 Mhz band for radio communication, and cell phone augmentation.

Thanks to Shen Milsom & Wilke’s acoustic work, the pre-function spaces, meeting rooms, and ballroom are isolated from adjacent spaces. To make sure sound didn’t flow through the divisible meeting rooms and the new ballroom, we conducted extensive field testing. Working closely with the architect, Shen Milsom & Wilke selected interior finishes to control sound reflections.

The HVAC equipment to support a space like Bartle Hall is significant. Shen Milsom & Wilke developed criteria and recommendations for noise and vibration control to avoid problems within the space and around the neighborhood.

Photo credit: MSpillers

Photo credit: Alise O'Brien

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