Switzerland - In a collaborative effort, WSDG worked alongside Wibrandis Stiftung and a team of architects at Vécsey*Schmidt Architekt*innen as well as other partners to implement acoustic treatments throughout the Oekolampad Gemeindehaus in Basel, a 1930s building purchased and repurposed for the community by the Wibrandis Foundation.
Every one of the 50 rooms in the building has benefitted from carefully engineered acoustic treatments, from the electro-acoustic solutions in the brand-new Theatre Box to the acoustic curtains in the children’s play area. This partnership ensured that every part of the project has been thoughtfully designed to ensure acoustic independence for the community groups that use it, with the highest possible standards of design and implementation across the whole venue.
The Gemeindehaus Oekolampad is the first initiative for the Wibrandis Foundation, founded in June 2020 by Sabine Duschmalé and named after Wibrandis Rosenblatt, who lived through a period of huge upheaval in Basel during the 16th century but epitomised the values of hospitality, charity and education that the foundation upholds today.
WSDG was first contacted in 2020 by Vécsey*Schmidt Architects to collaborate as acousticians on the whole project; at this point it was a feasibility survey, to see if the project was possible within the strict boundaries of the cantonal monument preservation office’s protection guidance. Work began in 2022 under the guidance of construction management company Anderegg Partner AG, and the building officially opened in May 2024.
The building’s original purpose was as a Protestant Church and rectory, but since 2011 there have been no services, although the building was still used for meetings. Preservation of the building’s aesthetic was paramount, but usability was also key. The space needed to be accessible to community groups from every part of Basel, from the children in the Quartier-treffpunkt Basel play area to the people living with dementia who are welcomed into the gardens and offices by the Basler Wirrgarten Foundation.
This vision also included the creation of a ‘Theatre Box’ as well as acoustic treatments for the other spaces in the community centre. The whole project has been completed with the upmost care and attention to detail, as Gabriel Hauser, partner and director of acoustics for WSDG explains:
“We worked closely with the theatre planners at THAT Hamburg GmbH to create the Theatre Box, now home to the Vorstadttheater company,” he says. “The restrictions of the cantonal monument preservation order meant that the theatre space was designed to sit entirely independently within the main building and is acoustically de-coupled. This ensures that the whole building can be enjoyed by completely different groups at the same time, without noise disturbance.”
The Theatre Box is constructed entirely from wood, with acoustically decoupled walls that stop short of all protected surfaces. It measures 180m2, with a room height of eight metres, resulting in a volume of 1440m3 and flexible seating for over 120 people. This isolation is achieved in part by utilising specialist wooden studs that have an internal rubber body to significantly reduce sound transfer. The choice to use a wooden structure removed the need for steel-based structural integrity, further improving the building’s ecological credentials.
The sound system, simulated and modelled by the WSDG team, was integrated by AV partners Auviso. An L-Acoustics X12 LCR-system is hung from bespoke, decoupled brackets. This attention to detail means that no acoustic energy is returned to the structure from vibrations, completing the decoupling and ensuring that difficult-to-manage bass and sub-bass frequencies are more easily contained within the space.
The theatre also contains a hidden induction loop in the floor for maximum flexibility for hearing aid users. This system is fully independent of the main house PA, ensuring that it can always be used, regardless of the type of performance.
The tranquil atmosphere is continued throughout the rest of the building. The Bistro Rosa has also benefitted from WSDG acoustic treatments; this has resulted in a peaceful space that patrons can feel relaxed in, often meaning they stay longer and make more purchases.
“This project was an extraordinary collaboration,” Hauser notes. “Working closely with the architects and integrators ensured that each detail has been carefully processed to be the best iteration possible. It is a very satisfying outcome and one we are very proud to be a part of.”
